DR Congo Backs "Guns for Bikes"

[Jedburgh]

BBC, 14 Jul 06: DR Congo Backs "Guns for Bikes" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5180144.stm)
A scheme under which gunmen in the Democratic Republic of Congo are given bicycles in exchange for their weapons is being extended due to its success.

Ngoy Mulunda, a pastor in the south-eastern Katanga region, says he has been given some 6,500 weapons in the past year, which he has destroyed...

ICG Reports on DR Congo (http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1174&l=1)

[carl]

One of the things they do here in the DRC, is turn in the old, rusty, no longer working weapon for whatever is being offered, be it a bicycle or a bounty. The usable weapons normally get turned in only under duress, as was the case recently with Gedeon' Mai Mai.

The pastor perhaps, is overselling his results.

[Tom Odom]

There is also a tradition that turned in weapons get return to the market; that was the case for the weapons taken from the former Rwandan army. I would agree with Carl that the good reverend is marketing,

Best
Tom

[Strickland]

One of the things they do here in the DRC, is turn in the old, rusty, no longer working weapon for whatever is being offered, be it a bicycle or a bounty. The usable weapons normally get turned in only under duress, as was the case recently with Gedeon' Mai Mai.

The pastor perhaps, is overselling his results.

While I hope, and yes I know that hope is never a good COA, that this weapons turn-in is not like similar ones in the US, where old and unusable weapons are returned, I cannot help but be encouraged by the fact that reports note "thousands" of weapons being turned over. Admittedly, in a nation where there are millions of weapons, thousands is a drop in the bucket, but it is a start. It also demonstrates that there is some "pseudo" higher order needs that are unrealized or could be exploited there.

[Jedburgh]

ICG, 5 Jul 07: Congo: Consolidating the Peace (http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/africa/central_africa/128_congo_consolidating_the_peace_web.pdf)
....Congo has a window of only a few years during which the international community can be expected to remain committed to supporting consolidation of the peace process. By the end of 2007, the UN Mission (MONUC) (http://www.monuc.org/Home.aspx?lang=en) will probably be under pressure to implement a significant drawdown, and donor support will likely be shifting to other post-conflict theatres. Without strong, clear signs of significant changes in governance, the window could close even more quickly. This report outlines the challenges that need to be addressed in the next two years....

[Jedburgh]

Ash Center, 1 Feb 10: Innovations for Post-Conflict Transitions: The United Nations Development Program in the Democratic Republic of Congo (http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/cache/documents/10494/1049474.pdf)
....This report examines the organizational dimensions of the UNDP office in the DRC, and analyzes its most important program innovations. Section I describes the difficult country and regional contexts in which the office operated. Section II explores the unique institutional vision and leadership by which the UNDP emerged as a key agent in the DRC. Section III analyzes innovation and scope of procurement and delivery. Section IV discusses Security Sector Reform—disarmament, demobilization and reintegration—as keys to post-conflict development in the DRC. Section V offers conclusions based on the findings of the report.....

[Van]

I welcome correction or criticism, especially from Tom (the regional SME), but it seems to me that guns-for-bikes is better thought out than gun-for-cash.

Cash seems likely to get re-invested in better guns or spent on drugs, ladies of negotiable affection, etc. Bikes can be the basis for several service industries (all manner of delivery services and travelling tradesmen), support to commuting further than walking is practical for, and creates the need for a supporting industry (bike repair). Sort of like the priciple behind 'micro-loans'.

This having been said, all of the reservations about re-use of the swapped guns, broken/worn-out guns being swapped, accuracy of reporting by the reverend, etc are, sadly, beyond dispute.

[Stan]

I welcome correction or criticism, especially from Tom (the regional SME), but it seems to me that guns-for-bikes is better thought out than gun-for-cash.

I’ll wing this one without too much criticism based on a decade of living there (Tom can chime in when he is well rested).

First off, an armed Congolese has little use for trading a firearm for a bike or cash. Both are obtainable at gunpoint (got to think like they do if you hope to make any sense of this). Cash is however a better incentive than say a bicycle.

Cash seems likely to get re-invested in better guns or spent on drugs, ladies of negotiable affection, etc. Bikes can be the basis for several service industries (all manner of delivery services and travelling tradesmen), support to commuting further than walking is practical for, and creates the need for a supporting industry (bike repair). Sort of like the priciple behind 'micro-loans'.

Cash in the Congo is rarely spent on better weapons, and alcohol and ladies are too easily obtainable. Purchasing “better” weapons is not a task for the common individual. Of all the people I met and worked with, I never met one interested in commuting, delivering services or for that matter, working.

This having been said, all of the reservations about re-use of the swapped guns, broken/worn-out guns being swapped, accuracy of reporting by the reverend, etc are, sadly, beyond dispute.

Tom has a valid point – the traded weapon(s) will not be destroyed and the bartering cycle will merely start all over again.

The reverend much like several organizations tend to over-rate their so-called foothold or status with government officials in the DRC. Such relationships rarely work without cash and are at best short-lived adventures.

[M-A Lagrange]

Unfortunatelly I would like to support both Tom and Stan, but I would like that such projects goes fine with results.
Reallity shows that the arrest of Gedeon, the may-may leader in what was called the triangle of death (le triangle de la mort) in Katanga had more impact than this project.
Also, I would like to add that the reverent or the church which did that, did it with Kabila support.
The same exercise of DDR through the church was done in 2008/2009 in Kinshasa. It appears that the church and the program was lead by Kabila spirtuam mentor and that most of the weapons recovered were from FARDC.
Not talking of the fact that they were paying 200$ per waepon turned back and that a weapon on the border market with Angola was 50$.
Some very mean people even said that it was a decoy to import illegaly weapons by Kabila government...

The main problem is not the weapon I believe but what we can offert on the long run for reintegration to young men (and women) that are not willing to go back to a ####ty life spent in surviving through farming.
Main problem being they are illeterate and alccolic most of the time (and drug addict also).

[Van]

...Of all the people I met and worked with, I never met one interested in commuting, delivering services or for that matter, working.

One faulty assumption and a beautiful theory is ruined. What's Wilf's sign-off line again?
:rolleyes:

[carl]

The main problem is not the weapon I believe but what we can offert on the long run for reintegration to young men (and women) that are not willing to go back to a ####ty life spent in surviving through farming.
Main problem being they are illeterate and alccolic most of the time (and drug addict also).

Being that Congo is Congo, there probably is no positive incentive or inducement to convince the people M-A speaks of to give up their life of crime. That leaves the other inducement, give it up or you will be killed. The ####ty life of a farmer looks better in that light. The problem of course is making the threat a realistic one. The UN mostly won't do anything and the FARDC either can't or is worse than anybody else.

I actually did know Congolese who were very good workers. The guys who worked for us were mostly go getters. A few were very good at stealing but we were able to keep that sort of thing in check, sort of. Some of them were pretty brave too. After the big fight in 2007, some of Bemba's men came to the airport and demanded of the guards that they unlock the hanger doors. The guards gave them a sob story but didn't unlock the doors. Bemba's boys unloaded a magazine or two into the hanger out of frustration but didn't hit anybody or damage an aircraft. I really respected those guards for doing that.

We were able to be pretty selective in hiring though. Everybody wanted to work for the airplane company.