Washington and Doha Agreements: DRC reaffirms its commitment to regional mechanisms

Kinshasa, July 27^th,  2025 (CPA).- The Democratic Republic of Congo remains committed to regional mechanisms to ensure the effective implementation of the Washington and Doha Peace Agreements, has declared the Minister in charge of Regional Integration at the 27^th meeting of the SADC Political Cooperation Organ, according to a press release.  ‘The DRC remains strongly committed to sub-regional and regional organisations for the effective implementation of the resolutions adopted at the EAC-SADC Joint Summit and the Washington and Doha Peace Agreements for the restoration of peace and respect for the integrity of Congolese territory,’ it is read. The Minister in charge of Regional Integration, Didier Mazenga, who has taken part in the 27^th meeting of the Ministerial Committee of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), held on Thursday in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, has presented the dramatic security and humanitarian situation currently prevailing in eastern DRC, which is plagued by aggression from Rwanda and its AFC/M23 auxiliaries.  This sub-regional meeting, it should be noted, was held under the theme: ‘Promoting peace and security in the SADC region’. Mr Mazenga has also welcomed the peace initiatives of the Heads of State and Government of the ‘EAC-SADC’ who recently met in Dar-Es-Salaam. ‘There has been talk of reporting on and reviewing the security situation in the eastern part of the DRC and sending an assessment mission to evaluate the withdrawal of SAMI-DRC intervention troops,’ the source has explained. ‘We have also requested an assessment of the financing of this mission, which is supported by the DRC and other SADC countries. The chair of the ministerial committee of the body fully agrees that this assessment mission should be carried out in order to determine the actual amount of contribution that each state must pay,’ Minister Mazenga has indicated, as quoted by the source. Previously, the DRC’s regional diplomacy chief had held tripartite talks between the SADC, the DRC and Tanzania with Elias Magisi, executive secretary of the SADC, and Mahmoud Tabit Kombo, Tanzanian Minister in charge of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and current chair of the SADC Council of Ministers. CPA/