The United Nations Security Council has ended a decade-long arms purchase ban on DR Congo, exempting the latter’s military to buy new weapons without having to seek permission from the body's sanctions committee. The decision announced Tuesday, December 20, also extended the mandate of Monusco, to December 2023. An arms embargo was imposed on the DR Congo in 2003 due “to continued violence in the country”, the UN sanctions committee said at the time. “In July 2003 Security Council Resolution 1493 was adopted unanimously in reaction to continued violence in Ituri, North and South Kivu, and illegal exploitation of natural resources,” the agency said at the time. Another argument for the embargo was that allowing DR Congo a free hand to buy weapons was fuelling conflict as some of the arms bought were leaking to the many armed groups in the eastern parts of the country. With the ban in place, Kinshasa’s government was required by the Council to first notify the sanctions committee of weapons it intends to buy. Basically it means that FARDC, the congolese army, will not be required to first ask for permission from the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council. The decision also comes at a time when FARDC forces have formed a coalition with the FDLR terror group to battle against the M23 especially in the eastern part of the country. The FDLR, which harbours a long-term sinister plan to destabilise Rwanda, comprises remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. After the Genocide, they moved into the eastern part of DR Congo after killing more than one million lives However, UN Security Council members said they recognised the precarious security situation on the ground in the DRC, where a multitude of armed groups have made parts of North and South Kivu and Ituri very dangerous areas, and this has been going on for over 25 years. Kinshasa also welcomed the resolution citing that it redressed an injustice that prevented our country from freely acquiring military equipment to enable the DRC's armed forces (FARDC) to have the necessary capacity to defend the country. FDLR, experts say, remains a key factor in the strained relations between Kigali and Kinshasa, with Kigali accusing the Congolese government of arming and collaborating with it (FDLR) to shell on the Rwandan territory. The Congolese government has counter-accused Rwanda of backing the M23, claims Kigali has dismissed.
