{"id":18157,"date":"2025-07-22T10:35:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T08:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/?p=18157"},"modified":"2025-07-22T10:35:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T08:35:36","slug":"drc-restoring-state-authority-means-reclaiming-rebel-held-areas-says-shabani-lukoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/drc-restoring-state-authority-means-reclaiming-rebel-held-areas-says-shabani-lukoo\/","title":{"rendered":"DRC: Restoring State Authority Means Reclaiming Rebel-Held Areas, Says Shabani Lukoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cRestoring state authority means reestablishing the public administration, security apparatus, and social services in all territories currently controlled by the AFC\/M23. This is non-negotiable. It\u2019s about reaffirming the sovereignty of the Republic and delivering governance to its citizens,\u201d Lukoo stated during a press briefing in Kinshasa.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The declaration, facilitated by international mediation \u00a0notably from Qatar \u2014 aims to open a political space for dialogue between the Congolese government and the M23\/AFC, a rebel coalition accused of receiving backing from neighboring Rwanda. The group has been occupying key towns and villages in North Kivu since 2022, setting up parallel administrations and displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians.<\/p>\n

In this context, the government\u2019s insistence on restoring its administrative presence is both a matter of national pride and a precondition for peace. The stakes are high: without reasserting its presence in these territories, Kinshasa risks leaving power vacuums that could perpetuate cycles of violence and foreign influence.<\/p>\n

Lukoo emphasized that true peace cannot be achieved without effective governance structures in place. \u201cYou can sign declarations, you can silence guns temporarily, but if the people in Rutshuru, Masisi, and Bunagana don\u2019t see the return of their mayors, police officers, teachers, and nurses, then we haven\u2019t done our job,\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He added that this restoration must go beyond symbolic gestures: it must involve the deployment of state institutions, the rehabilitation of infrastructure, and the provision of basic public services such as health, education, and justice.<\/p>\n

Observers note that similar agreements in the past \u00a0such as the 2013 Nairobi Declaration after the first M23 rebellion \u2014 failed to bring lasting peace precisely because they lacked a clear and enforced strategy for reestablishing state control. Many communities felt abandoned, and the power vacuum left by a retreating state was quickly filled by armed groups.<\/p>\n

Lukoo insists that this time will be different:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe DRC has learned from its past mistakes. The current process is anchored in both diplomatic realism and national resolve. We will not repeat the same errors.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite the government\u2019s firm stance, significant obstacles remain. The M23 continues to maintain a military presence in several strategic locations. Deep mistrust persists between the parties, and the humanitarian situation is dire, with over 1.5 million people displaced in North Kivu alone.<\/p>\n

Moreover, efforts to restore authority must be coordinated with ongoing military operations, community reconciliation, and international diplomatic pressure \u00a0especially regarding Rwanda\u2019s alleged involvement.<\/p>\n

For many Congolese, the restoration of state authority is more than a political slogan \u00a0it is a test of national sovereignty. The failure to reclaim control over the east has long been a source of national frustration and humiliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not negotiating the sovereignty of the DRC,\u201d Lukoo concluded. \u201cWe are working to recover every square kilometer of our territory and to ensure that every citizen, wherever they live, feels the presence of the Congolese state \u00a0not of rebels or foreign armies.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cRestoring state authority means reestablishing the public administration, security apparatus, and social services in all territories currently controlled by the AFC\/M23. This is non-negotiable. It\u2019s about reaffirming the sovereignty of the Republic and delivering governance to its citizens,\u201d Lukoo stated during a press briefing in Kinshasa. The declaration, facilitated by international mediation \u00a0notably from Qatar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"float","share_float_style":"share-normal","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":"As the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) navigates a fragile peace process with the AFC\/M23 rebel group, government spokesperson Shabani Lukoo has clarified a key point in the recent declaration of principle signed between Kinshasa and the armed movement. The central objective, he says, is the restoration of state authority not just in words, but through concrete actions on the ground."},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_review":[],"enable_review":"","type":"percentage","name":"","summary":"","brand":"","sku":"","good":[],"bad":[],"score_override":"","override_value":"","rating":[],"price":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":""},"categories":[5314,5311,5316,5317,5318],"tags":[811,5622],"class_list":["post-18157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-international","category-politics","category-security","category-society","tag-m23","tag-shabani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18159,"href":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18157\/revisions\/18159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}