Discussing security issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi stated that his country has already spent "billions" of dollars to bring the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) to the stage they are at today.

"We have already spent billions of dollars so that this army can reach this level today. It is not finished, we must continue (...) We must have an army sufficiently deterrent to discourage adventurers like Paul Kagame, for example today, in the future, from coming to play in the Democratic Republic of Congo," he declared.

Since the resumption of hostilities created by the M23 supported by Paul Kagame's Rwanda, Félix Tshisekedi had increased the army's budget by 300%.

In the national budget of 2023, the Congolese army was allocated 2,486,000,572,000 Congolese Francs, equivalent to 1 billion dollars. Several military equipments have been purchased including bulletproof vests, several dozen armored vehicles of Emirati manufacture, combat drones, the upgrading of certain fighter jets, attack helicopters, and even new uniforms. For the first time since the departure of Marshal Mobutu, the paracommando unit has resumed service at the Center for Airborne Troops Training (CETA), in Kinshasa.

In terms of personnel, the army has recruited around 40 thousand young Congolese, some of whom have already completed their military training. Military hospitals have been rehabilitated and modernized with state-of-the-art equipment such as at the Lieutenant Colonel Tshatshi military camp, in the heights of Mount Ngaliema, in Kinshasa, or the hospital at the military base in Kitona, in central Kongo.

Dido Nsapu