Great Lakes envoy cautions MONUC reinforcement to 20,000

Great Lakes envoy cautions MONUC reinforcement to 20,000 in DR Congo

BY GEORGE KAGAME

President Paul Kagame's envoy to the Great Lakes Region Ambassador Joseph Mutaboba has expressed caution at the decision to increase the forces of the United Nations' Peace Keeping Mission in DR Congo-MONUC from 17,000 to 20,000 on Thursday by the Security Council at the behest of France.

The Security Council increased the peace keeping force after the most recent outbreak of war between the National Congress for the Defence of the People forces under the command of Congolese dissident soldier General Laurent Nkunda against a combination of the Congolese government forces, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, Interahamwe and Mai Mai who are allegedly fighting on one side.
The decision to reinforce the MONUC forces has been criticized by many observers noting that the peace keeping force even before the increase in their numbers-still the largest operation by the UN-is inefficient and has also conspired with the various negative forces in the region to fight against Nkunda who says he is fighting to defend minority communities in Eastern Congo especially his ethnic Tutsi tribesmen who are threatened by the FDLR and the Interahamwe.

Asked if the increase in MONUC numbers will have an impact on peace and security in Eastern Congo, Mutaboba said: "it might make an impact if and only if they have a clear mandate and specific target." He added that even if the force was increased to '40,000 or 60,000' it means nothing "if the root causes of the conflict in the region is not addressed, the MONUC will have no impact if they continue protecting the Interahamwe." Mutaboba also said that the UN is fully aware of the problem of negative forces hiding in Eastern Congo and the rape and guns for minerals accusations against MONUC forces especially from Pakistan and India. "i hope they learned their lesson", he said.

The UN sent a 17000 strong force to keep peace in DR Congo in 1999 as the country was under going a military conflict in which 13 countries were allegedly involved. Since its creation however, MONUC has been accused of inefficiency for failing to maintain peace especially in the eastern part of DR Congo where 26 rebel groups are reported to be fighting. The biggest threat among these groups experts say are the FDLR who are remnants of the genocidal forces of Rwanda who continue victimizing civilian ethnic Tutsi in Congo. Of the already 17000 strong MONUC force in the Congo, only 6000 are based in Eastern Congo.

Since he started the rebellion in 2004, Nkunda has consistently said he is fighting to defend his minority Tutsi tribesmen whose existence is threatened by bandit groups that fled the country in 1994 after participating in the Genocide which claimed close to one million Rwandans. According security experts at the Nairobi based East Africa Standby Brigade, Rwandan negative forces that entered the jungles of Eastern Congo after the genocide initially numbered over 10,000 but it is believed that they have increased in numbers and logistics since they entered into partnership with the DR Congo government forces. The negative forces continue to destabilize Eastern Congo and have particularly attacked ethnic Tutsi tribesmen in the region.

Nkunda welcomed the increase of the force saying that he hoped they would help to establish stability in the region: "Congolese people must gain from the increased force. Currently Eastern Congo has no economy, no water, no electricity and no government." He added that he had ordered a ceasefire to allow for the if the force would help to introduce stability in the region then it is a good decision to increase their numbers,"

The UN stated that the 3,100 more troops will be dispatched to DR Congo but didnot say when the forces would be sent but residents in Eastern Congo are skeptical of the force: Christian Matandi in Kibumba Eastern Congo said: "what use is the increase of MONUC, they have been here before but they are interested in other parts of the country. What sense does it make to have only 6000 forces in Eastern Congo out of the 17000 when it is only this region that is under serious conflict?" asked Matandi.