Is Rutshuru and Eastern Congo persecuted for its agriculture or minerals?

Is Rutshuru and Eastern Congo persecuted for its agriculture or minerals?


BY GEORGE KAGAME&
GEORGE BARYAMWISAKI
Rutshuru, Eastern Congo


At first observation everything looked like it was staged, 'President" Laurent Nkunda was going to meet retired Nigerian leader General Olusegun Obasanjo now serving As special envoy of the UN Secretary General on the congolese crisis. The crisis like a volcano arose from relative slumber in recent times to a full fledged war pitying the National Congress for the Defense of the People, CNDP under the command of General Laurent Nkunda against the government troops of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and what many neutral observes agree are remnants of the genocidal forces in Rwanda in 1994.

The burst up of Eastern Congo followed a rarely peaceful period in recent times after the CNDP and government agreed to "work together", in January this year, Nkunda's people and those of the DRC government negotiated a deal for peace. However towards the weeks ending september, Goma itself was saved from CNDP's capture with the rebels declaring a ceasefire, Obasanjo is here to try to find peaceful means of stopping the war first, then guaranteeing the security of minority tribes in the area against a myriad other rebel groups fighting in this part of Congo, whose government outreach remains very poor, saves for a few roads to transport agricultural produce from the deeper farming communities to markets as far as Gisenyi, Kigali, Goma and Bukavu.

The recent war has seen Nkunda's CNDP capture a number of strategic areas and towns from government control, as a result, international humanitarian organizations have been quick to release reports declaring their analysis of their of the situation, even the UN has increased its peace keeping force to 20,000 the largest mission in the world. The two generals are meeting in a catholic church mission, which after the traditional sunday worship early in the morning, has quickly become an altar of peace, Nkunda calls it "a blessing, a chance for peace." Obasanjo is se to mediate negotiations between CNDP-which is the only group in the region interested in negotiations at all-with the DR Congo government sitting in Kinshasa.

Nkunda is a Congolese military man of Tutsi ethnic background, he has honed his skills in the complex wars that have raged in Eastern Congo since the ending of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. First he was involved in the well celebrated campaign to bring an end to the "sleeping" era of Mubutu Seseko in 1997 and then the campaign of the early 2000s where almost 13 countries were involved. Since those wars, Nkunda has emerged as a 'protector' to some communities in Eastern Congo particularly the Tutsi, and a 'warlord' in the western world. His tribesmen, the ethnic Congolese Tutsi are under the constant threat by armed groups that were defeated in in 1994 after their efforts had flared up a genocide. These groups are currently trademarked as "negative forces" they control considerable influence and large swathes of land in the Congo.

The negative forces are another evolution of militias, soldiers, vigilantes who after their suspected participation in the Rwandan Genocide escaped to Eastern Congo and by 1997 had acquired considerable influence to direct opportunity and misery in the region. These included Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda-FDLR, Interahamwe, Mai Mai and over 20 other rebel groupings according to security experts.
The Mai Mai is a remake of the Maji Maji, the historical anti colonial rebellion in Tanzania in 1905 against German rule.
The Tanzanian Maji Maji relied on the 'blessed water' supplied by a Tanzania magician named Kiyingitikire. Unlike their Tanzanian counterparts, the Congolese Mai Mai use guns, and "Silah za'ajabu"-dangerous guns, according to Robert Tumwizere, "they have washed away entire villages" in his hometown of Kibumba. The Mai Mai, although reported to be a threat to certain communities in Eastern Congo, they continue to be part of the mainstream political system of the central government. They also have representation in the provincial legislative assembly sitting in Goma.

Today Obasanjo has come in this remote part of Eastern Congo- two weeks ago under government control- but is now under the management of the National Congress for the Defense of the People led by Nkunda by the bidding of the UN Secretary General, to start a process whereby the Congolese government will negotiate with Nkunda's CNDP to end the recent outbreak of war . This is Jomba hill, it hosts a beautiful catholic mission on its peak and the meeting between the former Nigerian President and the Congolese rebel leader is taking place inside one of the church buildings.
The meeting venue, part of the territory under the control of Nkunda, it is also in the midst of the main food basket of the entire breadth of Eastern Congo. Feeding cities far away as Kigali, Bukavu and Kisangani.

Security is very detailed on the fences of the meeting venue, but outside children play and run around in circles, the elders smoke tobacco and waiting journalists-mostly white and working for prestigious media houses- are silently looking for strategic points to shoot pictures. Everything at first inspection looks if it has been designed by the rebels to look good for these journalists, and cynical as they are wont, the journalists know its all make believe.
But the drive towards Rutshuru is much more natural and serene. Trucks heavily loaded with sacks of foodstuffs and cattle contest for pathway on the small road with MONUC Anti Personnel Carriers, while on the roadsides, what is said by locals to be former security posts and road blocks of the FDLR are still left undisturbed.

The soils along all the hills covering the entire region of Kabuhanga, Bunagana, Rumangabo, Kibumbi and to Rutshuru, the ones occupying the region that covers the borders between Uganda, Rwanda and Dr Congo are probably the most fertile in Central and East Africa. Large parts of this area has been under the control of the CNDP since 2004 and as a result it is a haven of peace compared to many parts in Eastern Congo, and this explains why the meeting is taking place here and why the crowd is so eager to see Nkunda. For the 170 km of the journey from Goma inside the area under the control of CNDP, many of the residents in the area talk f the minerals, but they say the minerals are very far from here, they are mostly in Katanga region and even then, the mines and their products are run privately by Chinese and French companies.
The minerals so often mentioned in international news reports are not evident here, save for Nkunda's metal tipped hand stick.


After a few minutes talking to the press and bidding farewell to Obasanjo's entourage, on the way back to the meeting venue to hold another meeting of the executive council of the CNDP, Nkunda stops and addresses the crowd and promises a second visit soon, "to spend much more time with you." This happens in Kinyarwanda and long after all international journalists had already left.
The residents here are not decided whom between Uganda's Yoweri Museveni and Mobutu is their president but asked to choose between Kabila, "any Kabila" and Nkunda. Nkunda is a favourite for many. Even in private chitchats, many don't understand what the fuse about the current humanitarian crisis is about. "Since 2003, we have not had people running away from my village," says Sebahanga Bosco a resident of Jomba.

With this area embroiled in civil conflict involving various rebel groups and bandit militias, there are no investments in the agricultural sector here or any other sector, however the area remains till to-date the food basket of Goma in Eastern Congo, Gisenyi in Western Rwanda and Kisoro in Southern Uganda. It ironic therefore, that humanitarian groups involved in the crisis that currently pits General Laurent Nkunda against the DR Congo government continue assessing the area as a 'humanitarian crisis.'
The timing of the meeting is because the humanitarian groups "feeding the war in our country" according to Sebahanga have complained to Nkunda to open 'humanitarian corridors' so they can supply food to displaced victims of the war.

As the aid organizations raise their concerns about the safety of their 'food convoys' to the above areas, private businessmen buy food from markets in the same area, many as deep as Kibumba hundreds of kilometres inside the territory under the control of the CNDP. The food crops from here include onions, carrots, banana, vegetables and fruits and large numbers of livestock, they transported on Ugandan Fuso trucks locally called 'Ingande' to Goma, Kigali and Uganda by local farmers. There is no government functioning here, the locals, sometimes with their local churches are responsible for most infrastructure in the region.

The agricultural traders here share the small roads with MONUC armored vehicles escorting the aid organizations trucks to Goma. Tumwizere, a driver of one such trucks that carry agricultural produce to Goma says it is not the first time that international aid organizations have got it all wrong in Eastern Congo in recent years : "In 1995, the humanitarian agencies supported an active military establishment under the guise of a refugee camp. This is the current FDLR that is terrorizing us. They are not serious," those MONUC, he says with the confidence of a learned teacher. He is in fact an East African Flight School graduate but upon his return to his region in Eastern Congo found the entire herd of the family cattle slaughtered by the Mai Mai, he now runs a car for hire company in Goma.

He says that many of the busy trading centres we passed through were only two months ago under the Kinshasa government, and adds that only two months ago, the same towns accomodated camps where the FDLR lived undisturbed. "It is these camps that aid organizations claim to have found empty recently he says when we pass one such camps.

The FDLR according to Tumwizere had their own government structure and territory close to the western Rwandan border. "They charged five litres of fuel for every vehicle that passed through Rumangabo township on top of ransacking all material on board,". The FDLR here are real threat, but it is not clear which one between them and the Mai Mai militia is the most feared." While many are wiling to talk about FDLR, many more are afraid to talk about Mai Mai. "My father had 270 heads of cattle in 1995, when the Mai Mai killed him in 1997, there were only 70. Today we have no cattle left in the family."

A senior CNDP official living in the area adds his movement is used to the practices of the humanitarian organizations,he observes that it is not the first time that refugees in Eastern Congo have received undue mercy: "After the Rwandan Genocide, many of the people that were fed by aid organization near Goma turned out to be genocidaires who had a very active military organization that was being assited by these NGOs. For us, what we have dismantled are FDLR camps that were housing our enemies not innocent citizens. The citizens in our area are free, they live in their houses and we have assured them of protection. They are the source of agricultural produce in this region"