Angola: National Assembly votes to send military contingent to eastern DRC

The Angolan Parliament in Luanda. Benjamin SHEPPARD / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Angola officially approves the dispatch of a military contingent to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The vote took place on Friday 17 March at the Angolan National Assembly meeting in extraordinary session. Session broadcast live on television and which saw the deputies vote yes unanimously.

Advertising

Read more

Members voted as one. 178 votes in favour, no abstentions or votes against. In an Assembly largely dominated by the ruling MPLA party, the result is unsurprising. The Angolan contingent is expected to have about 500 troops, as well as air assets, without further details.

With a budget of 20.7 million euros, the mandate of Angolans must last one year, renewable "if justified," said Friday the minister of state and head of the Military House of the Angolan president. Francisco Furtado said the mission would not participate in the fighting and would not be involved in direct military operations. The soldiers will mainly have to secure the M23 cantonment areas and protect the teams responsible for monitoring the ceasefire.

The minister justified the sending of these men by the risks of destabilization of Angola, which shares 2,524 km of border. He reminded MPs that in 2016, 30,000 Congolese had taken refuge in Angola, "with consequences for society and the local economy". Francisco Furtado said he feared the exodus of "a million Congolese refugees" if the situation degenerated.

Angolans are very involved in the Congolese crisis. Luanda has taken on the role of mediator, particularly between the DRC and Rwanda, who accuse each other of border violations. An Angolan officer has been appointed to head the mechanism to verify these allegations.

► Read also: DRC: the hypothesis of a deployment of an Angolan contingent in the East raises hopes

Newsletter Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

Read on on the same topics:

  • Angola
  • DRC