SADC And EAC To Hold Joint Meeting On Eastern DRC Security

The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the East Africa Community (EAC) will hold a joint summit on Saturday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to discuss the security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Before the summit, meetings with senior officials and foreign ministers will take place on February 6 and 7, 2025.

At an Extraordinary SADC Summit in January 2025, the leaders mandated the SADC Organ Troika on Politics, Defence, and Security to work with all parties involved in the conflict.

The goal is to create a ceasefire to protect lives and ensure humanitarian aid reaches those affected by the fighting.

In a communique issued after the SADC Extraordinary Summit held on 31 January 2025 in Harare, SADC leaders said:

Summit called for an immediate joint Summit of SADC and East African Community (EAC) to deliberate on the way forward regarding the security situation in the DRC as proposed by the 24th Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State of the EAC held on 29th January 2025.

SADC has called on political and diplomatic leaders involved in the conflict to work together and support peace efforts, including the Luanda Process and the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), to restore peace and security in eastern DRC.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday at Zimbabwe’s State House in Harare, SADC Chairperson, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, emphasized the importance of helping the DRC government strengthen its ability to govern the country’s large territory effectively. He said:

Currently, you have various authorities speaking differently in the same country…I do not think that is the best to have in a sovereign country.

So as we meet as both SADC and the East African Community, we will probe that (question) and see whether it is possible to make sure there is one voice in the country.

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