M23 rebels look on in Kibumba in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on December 23, 2022. The Tutsi-led group has conquered swaths of territory in North Kivu province in recent months and come within several dozen kilometres of Goma. | Photo: AFP

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) president has reportedly signed an agreement on the status of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) force that will replace departing EAC Regional Force in the volatile east of the country.

According to The East African, Antoine Félix Tshisekedi presided over the official ceremony in Kinshasa on Friday.

This follows the May 2023 Special Summit in which Southern African countries agreed to deploy forces to help quell violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where armed groups have terrorized civilians for decades.

The 16-nation bloc, which includes South Africa, Angola and Tanzania, backed the deployment “to restore peace and security in eastern DRC”, according to SADC statement.

DRC’s Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs Christophe Lutundula said, “the Congolese government is committed to providing this force with the diplomatic facilities required for this type of intervention”.

On October 10, Kinshasa said the East African regional forces, whose Kenyan commander previously fled the mission headquarters in North Kivu, have been unable to restore peace in the country and must leave by December.

Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya on Monday said the peacekeeping force should go “because they have not been able to resolve the problem”.

Since last November, troops from Uganda, Burundi, South Sudan and Kenya have been deployed as part of the East African Community Regional Force to restore peace in the troubled North Kivu province.

The region has been mired in conflict for at least two decades, with different armed groups operating there despite the presence of UN peacekeeping forces since 1999.