Surprising turn of events in Kivu provinces

Laurent Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Paul Kagame, his Rwandan counterpart, have apparently formed an alliance, after having accused one another of supporting competing militias in the DRC’s eastern Kivu provinces. Last month, regular troops from both countries turned against the FDLR militias of former Hutu genocidaires from Rwanda. This new coalition also enjoys support from parts of the CNDP, a Tutsi militia. Laurent Nkunda, the controversial CNDP leader who started a major offensive in Kivu late last year and is blamed of severe violence against civilians, however, was arrested in Rwanda. So far, he had enjoyed support from Rwanda, whereas the DRC had supported the FDLR.

Whether the new alliance is stable, remains to be seen. Skeptics argue that the DRC’s regular troops are poorly equipped, inadequately organised and insufficiently paid. Therefore it is considered unlikely that allied militias will be successfully integrated into these armed forces. Such an integration is officially planned. Spokespesons of the UN and humanitarian agencies said they feared that increased military presence in the Kivu provinces would add to the plight of the local people.

As D+C went to press in late January, peace talks hosted by Kenya had been stalling for weeks. It did not look like UN peace envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, the former Nigerian president, would be able to make much difference.

In the meantime, the International Criminal Court in the Hague has put Thomas Lubanga and two rival warlords on trial. The three men are accused of having recruited child soldiers in the years 1998 to 2003 in Congo’s Ituri province. Lubanga’s chief military operator, Bosco Ntaganda, however, has also been accused and is yet to be arrested. In late January, he was commanding the CNDP faction which had joined forces with Congo’s and Rwanda’s armies against the FDLR.

(Sella Oneko)