DRC: Authorities unveil new defence policy.
The authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo unveiled on Tuesday the country’s defence policy, which foresees the introduction of compulsory military service for all secondary school graduates.
The document calls for the creation of a defence industry, which has not existed since the DRC’s independence in 1960. The defence policy calls for an army of reservists to be formed from retired soldiers.
“We thought it was time to set up a cadet school for our military vocations, a military service will be compulsory for our youth, especially those who finish their humanities,” said Congolese Defence Minister Gilbert Kabanda.
“We thought it was necessary to introduce a system of contractual military service for certain scientific technical staff who would be assigned to our research laboratories on a five-year or ten-year contract, as is done in some countries,” he added.
The DRC’s armed forces theoretically number 150 000 men for a population of 100 million.
The minister estimated that at least 500,000 men would be needed to form a dissuasive army. “This deterrence is based on the fact that Congo – Kinshasa has honey, gold and other riches. If that honey is not protected in some way, even someone who doesn’t really want to harm Congo will still be tempted,” he added.
The plan is for the army to also be equipped with a system against cyber and cross-border crime.
The authorities are counting on the military programming law, which provides for about $1 billion a year for the defence sector from 2023.
Miss OLY
