DRC: Tshisekedi points to "shenanigans" in the army to explain the insecurity in the east
Soldiers from the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) patrol the abandoned village of Kaswara, 60 km southwest of Bunia, in the Ituri region, in eastern DRC (image by illustration) REUTERS
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The Congolese head of state, Félix Tshisekedi continues his stay in eastern DRC.
According to him, the persistence of insecurity in this region is also due to "
shenanigans
" within the army.
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With our special
correspondent in Béni,
Patient Ligodi
Thursday, the head of state met with various delegates from civil society, business and students.
On this occasion, he once again reiterated his desire to end the insecurity in this part of the country.
He justified the establishment of the state of siege in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.
In October 2019, Félix Tshisekedi launched so-called large-scale operations to put an end to the activism of ADF fighters in the Beni region.
In the process, the government announced that the strength of the army in the area had been doubled, from 11,000 to 21,000 men.
Tshisekedi promises to clean up the army
Almost two years later, the local population is still complaining about the violence, particularly in the
Rwenzori
sector
.
This Thursday, Félix Tshisekedi affirmed that these figures are not exact.
“
You have to see the way our soldiers are taken care of, organized and structured.
Someone even gave numbers and I appreciated it.
It's true: there aren't
21,000 men here.
That's right, there isn't.
And directing all this from Kinshasa is complicated.
"
Inflated figures, fictitious numbers, dysfunction within the army, the President of the Republic says he has understood.
"
It took a representative of the President of the Republic who is military to unravel these secrets, these confidences, these shenanigans, let's put it like that, these shenanigans.
There are people who find pleasure in playing with other people's lives for their own interests
.
"
Félix Tshisekedi promises his personal involvement in cleaning up the army in order to accelerate the process of fighting against armed groups.
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DRC
Felix Tshisekedi