SADC To Oversee Conflict Between Zambia and DRC

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will help negotiate the conflict between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo after President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe requested the organisation’s intervention.

President Mnangagwa chairs the SADC’s Organ on Politics, Defence and Security and had been requested by both Zambia and the DRC to intervene in the countries’ border dispute.

The neighbouring states have been jostling for control of a 13 square kilometre border territory for nearly two months. 

Tensions flared when the DRC accused Zambia of moving to occupy part of its territory in the Moba region early in May. The Congolese government responded by upping its military presence in the area, resulting in clashes between groups of soldiers and sparking fears of full-blown war. 

Over the weekend, a spokesperson for Mr Mnangagwa announced that the president had taken the matter up with the SADC heads of state and would be embarking upon a fact-finding mission. 

President Mnangagwa issued a statement saying that it was particularly important to resolve the conflict peacefully during a time of heightened vulnerability for southern Africa.

“Both countries recognise they are members of SADC and that they must coexist peacefully. Disputes will always arise around borders but the key thing is always finding peaceful means of resolving them. When we are in this Covid-19 environment, the least we can afford as Southern Africa is an accentuation of the crisis by importing another issue which is really of a military nature,” he said. 

The conflict between Zambia and the DRC dates back to the colonial era but has escalated particularly in recent months. The UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reports that recent clashes between soldiers have led to mass displacements in the Moba region.