The world has failed the DRC, president of Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has observed.

During an interview with London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies streamed on its website, Masisi said tensions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are rising.

“More than the DRC, I think the world has failed the DRC. We have failed the DRC in appreciating what value we can get out of there and they for themselves,” he said.

“The DRC is potentially the richest in Africa and arguably one of the richest in the world.”

Masisi, however, noted that there forces that would rather continue seeing the country unstable for purposes of continuing to exploit its natural resources.

“Part of what can be done is for the likes of myself here to share that with you and share with leaders outside the DRC—outside Africa—because we in Africa particularly Southern Africa talk about this,” he added.

He reiterated that president Joseph Kabila must go.

Kabila’s tenure expired in 2016. Despite the country’s constitution making him ineligible to seek office again after serving his full terms, he has hailed on to power.

He has previously claimed he won’t seek re-election in polls slated for December this year but many observers doubt his commitment.

“The tragedy about the DRC is that tensions are mounting. The president of the DRC has stayed in power longer than the time was expected and there’s a lot of agitation,” Masisi said, “we in Botswana want the rule of law to be respected.”

He said on April 24, the regional grouping, SADC will be holding a double troika meeting on the DRC in a bid to resolve the impasse in that country.

“We want to get it from him (Kabila) as a grouping—and hopefully we can get a real commitment—not to attempt to come back to power by whatever means,” he said.