DRC Asks Zimbabwe To Mediate Border Dispute With Zambia

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has asked Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa to mediate the country’s longstanding border dispute with Zambia.

The announcement came after the DRC’s foreign minister, Marie Nzeza, met with President Mnangagwa at his official residence in Harare to brief him on the situation. 

President Mnangagwa currently serves as Chairman of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), in which capacity he will oversee the latest border dispute.

Immediately following the meeting, Mr Mnangagwa announced that both countries would be seeking SADC intervention.  

He told reporters the dispute related to how Zambia and the DRC were handling the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, as well as matters of security. 

Ms Nzeza said she could not going into more detail on the issue, however DRC International Trade Minister Sibusiso Moyo shed some light on the matter.

“There here was a conflict at one of the border areas and they have decided to approach the organ on Defence and Security so that this can be resolved peacefully in the spirit of SADC,” he said.

The DRC and Zambia have had several altercations over their 1,600km shared border, the latest of which arose after attempts to mark the frontier with beacons in the 1980s. 

In 1989, Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda and his Congolese (then called Zaire) counterpart Mobutu Sese Seko signed a treaty to put the beacons in place. 

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa