By providing weapons to SAMIDRC, the AU betrays its vision of “silencing the guns in Africa”

The African Union Peace and Security Council has called for an expedited transfer of equipment from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to its mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) to combat M23 and support ethnic cleansing in eastern DRC, a decision which betrays its vision of “silencing the guns in Africa”.

After endorsement of the SADC mission in DRC by the African Union Peace and Security Commission, the African Union urges the rapid transfer of AU weapons and military equipment stored in Douala, Cameroon to SADC troops who are conniving with FARDC-FDLR to commit atrocities against the innocent population in DRC.

The decision to supply weapons and other heavy military equipment shows that the AU doesn’t walk the talk, in February this year, the AU chairperson released a statement calling on DRC to prioritize the dialogue framework and reminding them that a military approach is not needed but today they are fueling war instead of peace.

Supplying weapons to the SADC mission automatically means that AU becomes a member of the FARDC collation which includes FDLR, Wazalendo, European Mercenaries, and the Burundian army who are together supporting the ongoing acts of genocide against the Congolese Tutsi communities.

The AU has ignored the regional peace framework meant to stabilize eastern DRC, several international actors urged DRC to implement regional peace frameworks like the Luanda and Nairobi peace process where Thsisekedi’s regime was asked to negotiate with M23 rebels and also disarm and repatriate foreign rebel groups such as FDLR, and today all those agreements were abandoned and the regime of Tshiskedi refused to implement them despite many warnings from world leaders and the international community, any AU supports to war in eastern DRC undermines peace processes.

By walking the talk of “silencing guns in Africa” the AU should invest in peace and security by emphasizing conflict resolution and addressing the root causes of insecurity in the region, rather than supporting military means of Silencing guns in Africa.