A dispute within the Congolese security forces in North Kivu, along with other developments, reveals Kinshasa's loose grip on power in the eastern province.
On Tuesday, a governmental delegation from Goma was blocked in Lushebere (6km from Masisi town) while trying to install a new police chief for Masisi territory. Colonel Zabuloni Munyantware, a dissident police commander, was responsible for the unrest. A former local commander of the PARECO armed group, Zaboluni was redeployed to Goma by the government in August but refused his position as commander of the "Hygiene and Disaster Police" (sic) in the capital of North Kivu. For the past several weeks, he has been holding out in Masisi, refusing to move.
The reasons for his redeployment are allegedly twofold. First, he is accused by the local population and customary chiefs of brutality. The local population demonstrated against him for several days in August, demanding his removal. Secondly, Zabuloni is seen by the local population as close to the CNDP, and is worried that his presence will allow ex-CNDP commanders to extend their influence in Masisi.
PARECO is an armed group that was formed in 2007 in opposition to the CNDP. Its most powerful wing at the time was made up of Hutu and was under the command of Col. Mugabo. Soon after the Congo-Rwanda peace deal of late 2008, Mugabo joined the Congolese army (he is now deployed in the north of North Kivu as a senior commander) with many of PARECO's Hutu soldiers. A dissident PARECO faction, however, linked to its civilian president Sendugu Museveni, became close to its former CNDP enemies, in particular Gen. Bosco Ntaganda. It is this faction that Col. Zabuloni is associated with and that is refusing to leave the central Masisi area.
This kind of Hutu-Tutsi collaboration is not uncommon in this region. When the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) controlled the province between 1998-2003, under the leadership of Hutu Governor Eugene Serufuli, the two communities were brought together under the "rwandophonie" coalition. This policy was backed by the Rwandan government, which at the time was deeply worried by potential collaboration between the Congolese Hutu community and FDLR militia based in the eastern Congo. Local Hutu chiefs were empowered - and sometimes even new ones named - and weapons distributed through Serufuli's Local Defense Forces and his NGO Tous pour la Paix et le Développement.
Many of the same characters are playing a role in this new, tentative realignment. On Tuesday, when Zabuloni chased away the provincial delegation, he was accompanied by Emmanuel Munyamariba, a former Serufuli stalwart and militia commander. Serufuli, who is now the head of the national electricity company's board, has himself been in the region recently campaigning for his new party, the Union des Congolais pour le Progres (UCP), and has at times been accompanied by Tutsi senator Emmanuel Mwangachuchu. Serufuli's party is part of President Kabila's coalition, but the former governor has also been reported to have made several visits to Kigali over past months.
On Tuesday, a governmental delegation from Goma was blocked in Lushebere (6km from Masisi town) while trying to install a new police chief for Masisi territory. Colonel Zabuloni Munyantware, a dissident police commander, was responsible for the unrest. A former local commander of the PARECO armed group, Zaboluni was redeployed to Goma by the government in August but refused his position as commander of the "Hygiene and Disaster Police" (sic) in the capital of North Kivu. For the past several weeks, he has been holding out in Masisi, refusing to move.
The reasons for his redeployment are allegedly twofold. First, he is accused by the local population and customary chiefs of brutality. The local population demonstrated against him for several days in August, demanding his removal. Secondly, Zabuloni is seen by the local population as close to the CNDP, and is worried that his presence will allow ex-CNDP commanders to extend their influence in Masisi.
PARECO is an armed group that was formed in 2007 in opposition to the CNDP. Its most powerful wing at the time was made up of Hutu and was under the command of Col. Mugabo. Soon after the Congo-Rwanda peace deal of late 2008, Mugabo joined the Congolese army (he is now deployed in the north of North Kivu as a senior commander) with many of PARECO's Hutu soldiers. A dissident PARECO faction, however, linked to its civilian president Sendugu Museveni, became close to its former CNDP enemies, in particular Gen. Bosco Ntaganda. It is this faction that Col. Zabuloni is associated with and that is refusing to leave the central Masisi area.
This kind of Hutu-Tutsi collaboration is not uncommon in this region. When the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) controlled the province between 1998-2003, under the leadership of Hutu Governor Eugene Serufuli, the two communities were brought together under the "rwandophonie" coalition. This policy was backed by the Rwandan government, which at the time was deeply worried by potential collaboration between the Congolese Hutu community and FDLR militia based in the eastern Congo. Local Hutu chiefs were empowered - and sometimes even new ones named - and weapons distributed through Serufuli's Local Defense Forces and his NGO Tous pour la Paix et le Développement.
Many of the same characters are playing a role in this new, tentative realignment. On Tuesday, when Zabuloni chased away the provincial delegation, he was accompanied by Emmanuel Munyamariba, a former Serufuli stalwart and militia commander. Serufuli, who is now the head of the national electricity company's board, has himself been in the region recently campaigning for his new party, the Union des Congolais pour le Progres (UCP), and has at times been accompanied by Tutsi senator Emmanuel Mwangachuchu. Serufuli's party is part of President Kabila's coalition, but the former governor has also been reported to have made several visits to Kigali over past months.
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| Map of Masisi with estimated area of ex-CNDP influence |
Further to the north, around Bibwe, another member of this cast is stirring up dust again. A Hutu chief called Erasto, who had been promoted to an important status during the RCD's tenure, has been playing an important role in local taxation and the resettlement of refugees returning from Rwanda. The return of some 40,000 Congolese Tutsi refugees from camps in Rwanda had been relaunched in 2009 after the Congo-Rwanda peace deal, but slowed in 2010. According to some sources, the refugee return has started up again and has focused on Bibwe. A foreign diplomat who recently visited the area reported that around 2,400 families may have been resettled this year around Bibwe. Most of these families are Congolese Tutsi, but few of them appear to be from this area.
Refugee return has been controversial, not least due to allegations that refugees may be returning to land upon which they have no historical claims. Gen. Janvier Buingo, the commander of the APCLS militia, claims that his struggle is motivated by the protection of his Hunde community against h encroachment of the CNDP and resettlement of Tutsi returnees, especially in the Lukweti area to the southwest of Bibwe.
Gen Bosco Ntaganda, a war crime indictee, is another player in this drama. One of his most loyal commanders, Col. Innocent Zimurinda, controls much of the north-central Masisi area. However, Bosco has also divided the Tutsi community, in particular through his alleged involvement in assassinations of prominent Tutsi, such as Denis Ntare Semadwinga, who were close to Laurent Nkunda. The divisions this created within the CNDP were a source of concern for the Rwandan government, as it was feared it could drive CNDP commanders into a coalition with anti-Kigali forces, such as the FDLR or the Rwanda National Congress (RNC).
Is it a coincidence that, just as there appears to be a resurgence of a "rwandophonie," there are rumors of Nkunda's return to the Congo? Several CNDP commanders claim that their celebrated leader will soon be returning to the Congo and be given an official position in the security forces. While it is unlikely that Kinshasa could countenance such a return - many Congolese see Nkunda as a symbol of Rwandan aggression - the rumors have become increasingly frequent in recent weeks. The former "Chairman" of the CNDP is also reported by diplomats to have greater freedom of movement inside Rwanda.
What is the meaning of all these developments? Difficult to say for sure. One possible interpretation is that leaders of the Hutu and Tutsi community, perhaps backed by Kigali, want to shore up their alliance ahead of elections in order to make sure their representatives get into national and provincial assemblies. It is no secret that Serufuli has been itching to wrest back control over North Kivu's governorship since he stepped down in 2007. But these developments are also sure to vex other communities and fuel speculation about undue Rwandan influence in the region.
Refugee return has been controversial, not least due to allegations that refugees may be returning to land upon which they have no historical claims. Gen. Janvier Buingo, the commander of the APCLS militia, claims that his struggle is motivated by the protection of his Hunde community against h encroachment of the CNDP and resettlement of Tutsi returnees, especially in the Lukweti area to the southwest of Bibwe.
Gen Bosco Ntaganda, a war crime indictee, is another player in this drama. One of his most loyal commanders, Col. Innocent Zimurinda, controls much of the north-central Masisi area. However, Bosco has also divided the Tutsi community, in particular through his alleged involvement in assassinations of prominent Tutsi, such as Denis Ntare Semadwinga, who were close to Laurent Nkunda. The divisions this created within the CNDP were a source of concern for the Rwandan government, as it was feared it could drive CNDP commanders into a coalition with anti-Kigali forces, such as the FDLR or the Rwanda National Congress (RNC).
Is it a coincidence that, just as there appears to be a resurgence of a "rwandophonie," there are rumors of Nkunda's return to the Congo? Several CNDP commanders claim that their celebrated leader will soon be returning to the Congo and be given an official position in the security forces. While it is unlikely that Kinshasa could countenance such a return - many Congolese see Nkunda as a symbol of Rwandan aggression - the rumors have become increasingly frequent in recent weeks. The former "Chairman" of the CNDP is also reported by diplomats to have greater freedom of movement inside Rwanda.
What is the meaning of all these developments? Difficult to say for sure. One possible interpretation is that leaders of the Hutu and Tutsi community, perhaps backed by Kigali, want to shore up their alliance ahead of elections in order to make sure their representatives get into national and provincial assemblies. It is no secret that Serufuli has been itching to wrest back control over North Kivu's governorship since he stepped down in 2007. But these developments are also sure to vex other communities and fuel speculation about undue Rwandan influence in the region.
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