João Lourenço, President of Angola, held a private meeting last Saturday with Felix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.), regarding the restoration of peace in the ravaged eastern Congo. This meeting follows an announcement that the Angolan parliament had approved a year-long deployment of up to 500 soldiers to eastern Congo. It also comes after the tripartite summit in which the D.R.C., Angola, and Rwanda signed the “Luanda roadmap for peace in eastern D.R.C.,” which aims to create conditions for the return of Congolese refugees and to normalize diplomatic relations between the D.R.C. and Rwanda, as well as demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities and an immediate withdrawal of M23 from Congolese territories.

The M23 rebel group has been terrorizing the eastern D.R.C. since 2012, after the body’s members defected from the Congolese armed forces on claims that the government failed to integrate elements of the political-military movements into the Congolese armed forces. After tasting defeat at the hands of a U.N.-backed D.R.C. in 2013, the rebel group went into dormancy, but re-emerged late in 2022 and, according to Human Rights Watch, has been deliberately killing civilians and raping women.

The D.R.C. has accused Rwanda of supporting the rebel group’s human rights violations and war crimes, going so far as to expel the Rwandan ambassador in Kinshasa. Rwanda, for its part, denies the accusations, but experts in the U.N. say they have “solid evidence” that Rwandan armed forces are supporting the M23.

Angola – alongside Kenya’s former leader Uhuru Kenyatta – has brokered several ceasefire agreements between the D.R.C. and M23, but these have all been short-lived, leading the D.R.C. to search for military co-operation with Southern Africa Development Community countries.

The newly-authorized Angolan contingent is expected to arrive in North Kivu, where Kenyan and Burundian soldiers are deployed as part of the East African regional force. However, the Angolan contingent will arrive with the mandate to “implement the verification mechanism foreseen by the Luanda process,” with the main objective of securing “the areas where the M23 elements are stationed and to protect the members of the Ad Hoc Verification Mechanism, who are members of a team in charge of monitoring compliance with the ceasefire,” according to the Congolese presidency. Meanwhile, the East African Community Regional Force (comprising soldiers from seven states: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and the D.R.C., its newest member) has agreed to send between 6,500 and 12,000 troops, with a mandate to “contain, defeat, and eradicate negative forces” in four Congolese provinces, including North and South Kivu.

Military action, however, is a poor answer to the Congo’s troubles. The use of arms will likely only win the D.R.C. a temporary victory, as in 2013, as rebels are forced from their territories into neighbouring states. In the best-case scenario, force could provide the D.R.C. with leverage into negotiations with M23 – provided that it can gain more territory with the help from its allies – but this will not end the rebels’ resentment. In the worst-case scenario, bringing more weapons and violence into the D.R.C. could fuel a future relapse.

Negotiation and taking mutually-agreed-upon steps to end the conflict are the best options to achieve a lasting peace. Disarmament, demobilization, and re-integration aimed at preventing a relapse should be the main pillars of the talks, along with eliminating Rwanda’s influence on the rebels by improving border security. Moreover, a third party should take the role of a supervisor to oversee the peace process, ensure that both parties adhere to their agreements, and avoid a repeat of the failed 2009 and 2013 treaties.

However, if the D.R.C. does manage to gain leverage using force, President Felix Tshisekedi should consider implementing similar measures to the pillars discussed above. Curtailing foreign influence and deweaponizing the M23 rebels in order to integrate them back into society is the best way to prevent future relapse.