Gazing in the Congo (DRC): the dark heart of Africa (2006-2017)

[Stan]

Damn took a while to even find Moba, Stan. It is south of Kalemie on Lake Tanganyika, which is funny because I don't recall this being the area where the Congolese Tutsis, or Banyamulenge,came from in the first place. I thought they were from further north. Then again you never really need a good reason to riot in the Congo...

Best

Tom

If I recall correctly, the Banyamulenge (the French and Belg called them collectivité Barundi...it was far easier to pronounce in French ) began life as Burundi Tutsi immigrants and later in the 1900s sought work and settled in South Kivu. Later ethnic violence from Burundi's Hutu would drive more into Kivu (I'm guessing late 60s).

Our drivers often spoke about the Barundi stealing jobs from the Zäirois (as if the Zäirois were dying to get jobs or for that matter, work for a living).

All Africa reports: Calm Returns After Anti-Banyamulenge Demo.

"After a day of looting, stone-throwing and break-ins into offices, the town is now calm and the last group of UN staff being evacuated is at the airport," Eusebe Hounsokou, the head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in DRC, said on 2 August from Lubumbashi, the provincial capital.

So Tom, What do ya think ? Nothing left to steal or drink

[Tom Odom]

So Tom, What do ya think ? Nothing left to steal or drink

At the JRTC we would call it a tactical freeze or pause--stop long enough to let them resupply and resume operations. Works in Louisiana, will work in the Congo

that is true on the 60's surge but there were earlier when the Tutsi King controlled much of this area. Dissident Tutsi family groups moved outward to get away from the King's power and stayed where they were after that power receded. We are talking the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

best

Tom

[Stan]

For Tutsis of Eastern Congo, Protector, Exploiter or Both?

By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, August 6, 2007

Villagers said that earlier this year Nkunda hoisted a flag and declared his mountain fiefdom a new country: Land of the Volcanoes.

KICHANGA, Congo -- On the way to the mountain headquarters of renegade Congolese Gen. Laurent Nkunda, there are villages patrolled by Laurent Nkunda's police and checkpoints where Nkunda's soldiers demand that truck drivers pay a tax to support their leader's cause.

Local residents can settle disputes these days in Nkunda's courts or attend church with a priest appointed by Nkunda, who is wanted on war crimes charges but lately has been wearing a button that reads "Rebels for Christ."

Video and more at the link...

Tom, Looks like he forgot his Ray-bans, rappel seat and carabiner. But then, perhaps he's not airborne qualified

[Tom Odom]

"Is it really Nkunda who is the problem?" asked Nkunda, who carries a gold-tipped baton and often refers to himself in the third person. "They want to keep me as the problem so that they can explain all the problems in Congo through Nkunda. . . . But I will protect myself, and I will protect these small number of Tutsis who are here."

Never a good sign referring to yourself in the 3rd person...I wonder what Tom Odom would think?

"Rwanda cannot establish a relationship with such a person, but we can understand why Nkunda is Nkunda," Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murigande said in an interview. "We can understand his argument."

Armed with a sense of righteousness fortified by visiting American evangelical Christian groups, Nkunda has in recent months been carrying out attacks against village after village.

Charles, I know. He is quite adroit and when it comes to the international relations game, there is no one better. See this interview for an example.

One has to wonder which evangelicals have hooked up with Nkunda.

Best

Tom

[Stan]

From The New Times, Rwanda's First Daily "The presence of Interahamwe militias in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was given much priority during talks between Kampala and Kinshasa early this week."

Strange, they've only been there for the greater part of 2 decades, but then...

The development follows an attack in south western Uganda on August 9 by suspected Interahamwe. Three people were killed when machete-wielding armed men speaking a mixture of Kinyarwanda and Kiswahili attacked Butogota Trading Centre, according to government. The assault on Uganda was the third in less than two weeks.

The DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda are members of the Tripartite. "Negative forces is the key thing on the agenda in September," Kiyonga said soon after meeting MPs on the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee at Parliament. But he said their strength "is of a nuisance level" that would not threaten to overrun any establishment in the region. Most of the negative forces including the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (or Interahamwe/ex-FAR) and NALU have been blacklisted by the Fusion Cell in Congo that brings together members of the Tripartite Plus Commission and the United States.

Greater details at the link...