Democratic Republic of Congo’s President FélixTshisekedi has accused the regional force deployed to the east of his country of not doing its job and colluding with M23 rebels.
“In some regions, there is cohabitation between the regional force and the M23 terrorists. This was not in the programme,” the Congolese leader said.
The East African force, known as the EACRF, was deployed last year to help quell fighting and enforce a ceasefire.
Mr Tshisekedi said he had expected the East Africans to force the rebels to go into camps, warning if they did not do so by June they would be asked it to leave DR Congo.
He also criticised the Kenyan authorities over the resignation and replacement of EACRF commander Gen Jeff Nyagah over unspecified “threats”.
The DR Congo president expressed these frustrations during a state visit to Botswana. Both countries are members of the regional bloc, the Southern African Development Community (Sadc).
Earlier this week, Sadc agreed to deploy troops to eastern DR Congo with “an offensive mandate”.