Africa's peacekeepers: Who's left to maintain order?

On March 13, leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc signaled the end of its peacekeeping mandate in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following the killing of more than a dozen peacekeepers by M23 rebels in January.

The country had been relying on the SADC Mission in the DRC, known as SAMIDRC, to neutralize the M23 rebel group in the country's conflict-hit east. 

The bloc's decision to pull its mission came one day after mediators in Angola set a new round of peace talks between Congo and the Rwanda-backed rebel group.

What happens to peacekeeping in Congo now?

SAMIDRC had taken over from an East African Community (EAC) deployment and the United Nations Force Intervention Brigade, which had been in Congo for over two decades.

A little over a year after its deployment, SADC leaders announced a "phased withdrawal," which came after several sporadic incidents involving peacekeepers, including the deaths of three Tanzanian troops in a mortar explosion in April 2024. 

But in late January, 10 South African soldiers and three Malawian soldiers died at the hands of rebels in the battle for Goma. Scores were injured as the conflict escalated. 

"Perhaps there is a need to rethink the rules of engagement with regard to the peacekeepers," Chimwemwe Tsitsi, a Malawi-based international relations expert, said.

Tsitsi told DW there was a change in approach by the peacekeepers in Congo.

"Perhaps the change in the approach from that of non-interference to a new one ... might also be another reason why the peacekeepers have been fighting some armed groups of late...There are a number of factors that may have caused this mission to disband," he said. 

Public outcry over killing of peacekeepers

The SAMIDRC fatalities dominated news headlines in southern Africa, sparking broad public opposition. 

Malawi was the first announce a halt to its deployment to Congoin early February, with President Lazarus Chakwera instructing the Malawi Defence Force commander to begin preparing to withdraw. 

The move was largely welcomed by Malawians like Antony Manda.

"Kudos to the president for making this decision," Manda told DW. "We've been fighting a war in DRC, which is not our war. So, these soldiers should come back home."

Chiukepo Mwale, another Malawi citizen agreed, saying, "There is no reason for our soldiers to be there."

Meanwhile, South Africa deployed additional troops and military equipment to Congo, despite an outcry by the public and trade unions over the killing of soldiers, with an under-resourced South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

Dr. Alex Vines, the Africa program head at the London-based Chatham House think tank, is on a visit to Guinea-Bissau, where a large contingent of Senegalese troops has comprised the ECOWAS Mission in Guinea-Bissau.

"There are questions here in Bissau whether the ECOWAS presence has any effect and the expulsion of the recent ECOWAS/UNOWAS mission here related to its inquiries around the election road map [is] worrying," said Vines.

Gambia, according to Vines, is more successful. Peacekeepers from Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria have kept the ECOWAS military intervention in the Gambia or the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia going since 2017.

"But I think ad hoc arrangements can have some promise — the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) for example," he told DW. The MNJTF that was initiated by Nigeria in the mid-1990s is today made up of troops from Benin, Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon, and mandated to fight Boko Haram insurgents.

African-led peacekeeping missions on the decline

The SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) is still active in the volatile northern Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique. South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania, Botswana, Angola, Namibia, Lesotho and Zimbabwe have been providing troops, military equipment and logistical support to Mozambique's bid to crush an insurgency by extremist groups since 2021. 

The escalation in the conflict in eastern Congo began while the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) was underway.

In the 2000s, the African Union had given new direction to dealing with conflicts in Africa. But it can't be said that that is still the case, according to Malawi-based international relations expert Chimwemwe Tsitsi.

"Since the withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali in 2023, we've seen that trend ongoing, coupled with the establishment of African-led missions in 2007." 

The exit of the long-standing MONUSCO mission came at the behest of the Congolese. The government of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi had pushed its complete withdrawal by the end of 2024. 

African troops have been a big part of MONUSCO, with countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, sending troops, while Chad, Djibouti, Guinea, Madagascar and Togo have sent police personnel. 

"Generally there has been a steady decline of funding for peacekeeping missions. For example, in 2014, the UN spent around $6.4 billion [€5.9 billion] but in 2024, this went down to around $2.7 billion," said Tsitsi.

"I think lack of funding and commitment of Western traditional funders for peacekeeping missions ... to the DRC might also be one of the causes of this, apart from the public outcry over the killings of the peackeeping troops involved with the DRC." 

Sudan 'is somehow neglected'

The deployment of Kenyan police to Haitiis an exception because African troops are most deeply involved in peacekeeping missions across Africa and many are part of missions led by the UN, the African Union or regional blocs around the continent.

The UN lists blue helmets from Rwanda, Egypt, Ghana and Ethiopia among the most regular contributors of troops, police and military experts to its missions in Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the world. These include the ongoing UN Mission in South Sudan and peacekeepers from around Africa are deployed to the AU-led peace enforcement mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM.

The UN Integrated Transition Assistance mission in Sudan ended on February 29. 

Some conflict-torn parts of Africa are being neglected, Tsitsi warned. "I think Sudan is somehow neglected, especially the current conflct in Sudan ... we haven't seen any intervention from the United Nations or African Union. I think, Sudan can be [seen] as one of the neglected countries in African peacekeeping missions," he told DW.

Edited by: Keith Walker