Maputo, March 13, 2025 (Lusa) - The president of Mozambique advocated on Thursday a "diplomatic solution" for the pacification of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo), where the death toll from the conflict has exceeded 8,500 since January.
"We take this opportunity to once again advocate a diplomatic solution for peace and, above all, stability in that region," said Daniel Chapo at the end of an extraordinary summit of the heads of state and government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The SADC heads of state and government held an extraordinary summit today to discuss the security situation in the DRC.
Speaking to the media at the end of the summit, Chapo praised the "efforts" of DRCongo President Félix Tshisekedi and the involvement of SADC in ensuring peace and stability in that country.
The president of Mozambique also promised to continue with "bilateral and multilateral" efforts at the level of the southern region with the aim of seeking solutions "as soon as possible" for that country in the centre of Africa.
"We will continue to defend the need, above all, for the efforts being made by Rwanda and Nairobi [Kenya] to re-establish security, peace and stability in the eastern region of the DRCongo," he added.
Daniel Chapo had previously promised, on 1 February, to "support the efforts" of SADC to bring peace to the DR Congo. This was after the Rwandan-backed 23 March Movement (M23) took the city of Goma, capital of North Kivu province in the north of the country, on 27 January after several days of intense fighting.
At the time, he said that Mozambique—which receives support from Rwanda in the fight against terrorism in the province of Cabo Delgado (north of the country)—would not be adding its troops to the SADC mission fighting in the DR Congo. He indicated that the mission would continue to consist of troops from South Africa, Tanzania, and Malawi.
M23, supported by Rwanda - according to the UN and countries like the US, Germany and France - took Bukavu, the strategic capital of South Kivu, neighbouring North Kivu, whose capital, Goma, it also occupied on 27 January, over the weekend of 15 and 16 February.
The group controls the capitals of these two provinces, which border Rwanda and are rich in minerals such as gold and coltan. These minerals are essential for the technology industry and the manufacture of mobile phones.
The number of deaths caused by the conflict in and around Goma has exceeded 8,500 since January, said Congolese Public Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba on 27 February.
The armed activity of the M23 - a group made up mainly of Tutsis who were victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide - began again in November 2021 with lightning attacks against the Congolese army in North Kivu.
Since then, it has advanced on several fronts, raising fears of a possible regional war.
Since 1998, eastern DRCongo has been plunged into a conflict fuelled by rebel militias and the army, despite the presence of the UN peacekeeping mission (Monusco).
SADC is a Regional Economic Community made up of 16 member states, namely Angola, Botswana, Comoros, DRCongo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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