Minister defends involvement in DRC

Zimbabwean Defense Minister Moven Mahachi on Thursday said there was nothing “sinister or extraordinary” about Zimbabwe’s involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), PANA reported. Mahachi told 86 soldiers who had just returned from the DRC that their deployment in the DRC was for a good cause - to promote peace, stability, tranquillity and nothing else. He reiterated that Zimbabwe harboured no territorial ambitions since it had all the territory it needed and was prepared to protect it. “It is our mere contribution to the region’s firm resolve to strengthen and consolidate democracy and restore peace and stability on the African continent,” he said. Mahachi said the successful implementation of the Lusaka Peace Accord would determine the pace at which Zimbabwe would continue to reduce its troops in the DRC until an appropriate time for total withdrawal as outlined in the Kampala disengagement and Harare sub-plans. “On our part, we have great interest in the resolution of such internal conflicts because they directly affect the security situation in the entire African continent,” the minister said. At least 11,000 Zimbabwean troops, together with those from Angola and Namibia, have been propping up the DRC army, fighting rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda since August 1998, the report said. The Lusaka Accord was signed by all belligerents in the conflict in 1999, and as part of the agreement, most of the fighters have completed a 15 km pullback from the frontline.