Congo-Kinshasa: Tshisekedi Bolsters UPDF Operations in DRC With 10 Toyota Land Cruisers

What the report says

President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has donated 10 new Toyota Land Cruiser pickup trucks to Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces personnel deployed under Operation Shujaa, according to Nile Post as republished by AllAfrica. The handover took place in Beni, North Kivu, and was presented on Tshisekedi’s behalf by Governor Maj. Gen. Somo Kakule Evariste.

The donation was described as a gesture of appreciation for the UPDF’s role in joint operations with the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo against the Allied Democratic Forces, an armed group active in eastern DRC and also linked in the report to past attacks in Uganda. Maj. Gen. Stephen Mugerwa, who received the vehicles for the UPDF, thanked the Congolese president and said the two forces would continue pursuing the ADF.

The article says the vehicles are intended to improve mobility and operational capacity as the cross-border campaign continues. It also frames the handover as part of wider military cooperation between Uganda and the DRC, which officials say has helped improve security in parts of eastern Congo. The report adds that Operation Shujaa, launched in November 2021, has coincided with some returns of displaced people, school reopenings and increased trade along the Uganda-DRC corridor.

More broadly, the story highlights how security cooperation and logistics support remain central to the joint campaign in eastern DRC, where both governments continue to present the operation as aimed at weakening the ADF and stabilizing the region.