Di rebel leader wey im career surround di kasala for Rwanda and DR Congo
In just two weeks, tori be say thousands of pipo don dey killed and di fighting don turn war of words between DR Congo and dia neighbour, Rwanda.
So how DR Congo, wey be di biggest kontri for sub-Saharan Africa, carry demselves reach dis level?
You fit understand di start of dis kasala if you torchlight di tori of one man, M23 leader Sultani Makenga wey don dey accused of plenti war crimes allegations.
To look into Makenga life na to look into decades of war, some foreign intervention and di lure of DR Congo rich mineral resources.
Im life start on Christmas day of 1973 wen dem born for di lush Congolese town for Masisi.
E bin dey raised by Tutsi parents, and at di age of 17 e comot school to join one Tutsi rebel group for Rwanda.
Di group wey dem call di Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) bin dey ask for more Tutsi representation for Rwanda goment wey dat time bin dey full of politicians from di Hutu majority.
Dem bin also want di hundreds and thousands of Tutsi refugees wey ethnic kasala bin pursue comot di kontri make dem come back house.
For four years, Makenga and di RPF bin fight di Hutu filled army for Rwanda. Di fight-fight join wit di 1994 genocide wen Hutu extremists bin kill 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Wen e bin look dis time for one rare interview for 2013, Makenga say: "My life na war, my education na war and my language na war... but I respect peace."
Di RPF seize more and more lands small-small bifor dem match enta di Rwanda capital of Kigali so dem go overthrow di extremist Hutu goment, and many of dem run enta wetin today be DR Congo.
Wit RPF for power, Makenga come join di official Rwandan army and rise to di rank of sergeant and deputy platoon commander.
One of Makenga fellow RPF fighters tell di RIft Valley Institute wey be non-profit research organisation say, "e bin dey very good wit setting up ambushes".
Im progress for di Rwandan army sha take style hang. Di fact say e bin get only basic education and fit speak broken French and English bin dey stand as "challenge to im military career", according to di Rift Valley Institute.
Dem also tok say, till today, Makenga dey very reserved and dey find am hard to tok for public.
For 1997, e bin dey part of di Rwandan-backed forces wey las-las take ova power for DR Congo and comot long-serving ruler Mobutu Sese Seko. To replace am, dem put veteran Congolese rebel leader Laurent Kabila.
But Makenga bin start to dey clash wit im ogas dem. Rwandan authorities bin arrest am afta im refuse orders to go back to Rwanda, according to one UN Security Council report.
So, dem imprison am for many years for di island of Iwawa.
Meanwhile, di relationship between Kabila and Rwanda new leaders start to scata.
Rwanda bin wan crush di Hutu militiamen wey bin dey responsible for di genocide but dem run across di border for 1994. Rwanda bin fear say dem go come back and scata di kontri stability wey dem don struggle to win.
But Kabila bin fail to stop di militants from organising and e also comot di Rwandan troops by force.
Bicos of dat, Rwanda invade DR Congo for 1998. Wen Makenga bin dey released from prison, dem appoint am as commander for di front line wit one Rwanda backed rebel group.
Ova di years, e gain di reputation from being very strategic and skilled wit commanding large group of sojas to battle.
Afta Rwanda troops cross enta DR Congo, discrimination against di Tutsi community start to increase again. Kabila bin allege say di Tutsis support di invasion while oda officials bin ginger di public to attack members of di ethnic group.
Makenga wey still dey DR Congo bin accuse di Congolese leader say im betray Tutsi fighters say: "Kabila na politician, and I no be politician. I be soja and di language wey I sabi na gun."
Plenti neighbour kontris bin dey dragged to di kasala as one ogbonge UN military force bin dey deployed to try keep order.
More dan five million pipo, na im dey believed say bin die for di war and afta. Most of dem bin die from starvation or disease.
Di fight-fight bin officially end for 2003 but Makenga continue to dey work for armed groups to di Congolese goment.
In di spirit of reconciliation, Tutsi rebels like Makenga bin las-las join di Congolese goment armed forces for wetin dem call "mixage".
But di political stands for DR Congo dey always shift, and na so Makenga defect from di army to join di M23 rebellion wey bin dey on di rise.
Di M23 bin don dey very active for DR Congo east say dem dey fight for Tutsi rights and goment no gree honour peace deal wey dem sign for 2009.
Makenga bin dey elevated to di rank of M23 general and den soon reach di top position.
For November 2012, e lead di rebels for ogbonge fight-fight, from wia dem capture di city of Goma, wey be major eastern city wey get ova one million pipo.
DR Congo and di UN bin accuse di Rwanda Tutsi full goment say dem back di M23. Kigali don deny dis allegation many times. But recently di official statement don shift, as goment tok-tok pipo say to fight near di border na security threat.
By 2012, Makenga and odas for M23 dey face serious war crimes accuse. Di US don impose sanctions on am say e dey responsible for "di recruitment of child sojas and campaigns of violence against civilians". Makenga say di accuse say M23 dey use pikin as sojas dey "baseless".
Di US also say e don commit and dey responsible for tins like killing and maiming, sexual kasala and kidnapping.
Apart from asset freezes, Makenga bin also dey face bitter division for inside di M23. One side back am as dia leader while di oda bin support im rival, Gen Bosco Ntaganda.
Di Enough Project wey be non-profit group wey dey work for DR Congo say di two sides bin enta full war for 2013 wey kill three sojas and eight civilians.
Makenga side bin wine and Ntaganda run enta Rwanda wia e surrender to di US embassy.
Gen Ntaganda wey dem bin nickname "Terminator" bicos of im brutality, bin dey sentenced to 30 years in prison for war crimes by di International Criminal Court (ICC).
But months afta di Makenga win, anoda bigger threat bin come. Di UNbin deploy one 3,000 force wit di mission to support di Congolese military to fit take back Goma and ginger di M23 to withdraw.
Di rebel group bin dey expelled from di kontri and Makenga bin run enta Uganda, anoda kontr wey dem accuse say dey support M23, wey dem too don deny.
Uganda don receive extradition request from DR Congo for Makenga but dem no act on am.
Eight years later, plenti armed groups still dey scata di mineral-rich east of DR Congo but at least authorities dey free from dia most notorious militants.
Until 2021.
Makenga and im rebels carry weapons again anf take ova territory for di North Kivu province.
Several ceasefires between di M23 and di Congolese authorities don fail. Even sef last year one udge sentence Makenga to death in im absence.
For M23 latest advance, wey tori be say na thousands of Rwandan troops dey support di rebels, pipo neva too see Makenga in public.
Instead na im tok-tok pesin and Corneille Nangaa wey be oga of alliance of rebel groups wey include M23 na im dey run public speeches and statements.
But Makenga still be key player, and e be like say na behind di scene strategy e dey focus on.
E don tok say im fighting na for im three pikin, "so dat one day dem go get bata future for dis kontri".
E tok say, "make una no look me as pesin wey no want peace o. I get heart and family and pipo wey I care about".
But millions of ordinary pipo dey pay di price for dis kasala and if Congolese forces catch am, Makenga dey look death sentence.
Yet e no dey shake am.
E say, "I dey willing to sacrifice evritin".
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Reuters
4 days ago
- Reuters
Inside the mine that feeds the tech world - and funds Congo's rebels
RUBAYA, Democratic Republic of Congo - Under the watchful eye of M23 rebels in the hills around the Congolese town of Rubaya, a line of men in rubber boots ferry sacks full of crushed rocks up winding paths cut into the slopes. The laborers are hauling coltan ore, a mineral that powers the modern world. The ore will be loaded onto motorbikes and eventually shipped thousands of kilometers away to Asia. There it's processed into tantalum, a heat-resistant metal that fetches more than $300 a kilogram and is in high demand by makers of mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas turbines. Rubaya produces around 15% of the world's coltan, all dug manually by impoverished locals who earn a few dollars per day. Control of this mine is the biggest prize in a long-running conflict in this central African nation. The area was seized in April 2024 by M23, a rebel group the United Nations says has plundered Rubaya's riches to help fund its insurgency, backed by the government of neighboring Rwanda. The heavily-armed rebels, whose stated aim is to overthrow the government in Kinshasa and ensure the safety of the Congolese Tutsi minority, captured even more mineral-rich territory in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this year. The region and its mineral wealth are in the spotlight as M23 and the DRC have pledged to sign a peace deal at a ceremony in Qatar's capital, Doha, this month. The United States is mediating parallel talks between Congo and Rwanda, dangling potentially billions of dollars in investment if hostilities cease. The United States Treasury on Tuesday sanctioned other alleged participants in minerals smuggling in Congo, including PARECO-FF, a pro-government Congolese militia that the U.S. said controlled the Rubaya mining site from 2022 to early 2024, prior to M23's takeover. PARECO-FF could not be reached for comment. Asked at a press briefing why Washington was targeting PARECO-FF rather than M23, a senior U.S. government official noted that M23 has been under U.S. sanctions since 2013 for fueling conflict in the region. 'The Treasury Department will not hesitate to take action against groups that deny the United States and our allies access to the critical minerals vital for our national defense,' John K. Hurley, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a separate statement. Jason Stearns, a former U.N. investigator in Congo, said the fact that M23 was not targeted by the new mining-related sanctions was surprising, adding the move might be aimed at keeping the Doha talks on track. M23's advance poses the most serious threat to the Kinshasa government in at least two decades of conflict rooted in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, which saw around 1 million of Rwanda's Tutsi ethnic group killed by Hutu militias. Rwanda's government has long denied that it traffics in coltan looted from its neighbor or that it backs M23. But Rwanda's ruling party, mainly headed by Tutsis, shares the same concerns as the Tutsi-dominated M23 insurgents over the purported threat posed by rival Hutu groups operating in eastern Congo. A July 3 U.N. report, reviewed by Reuters, says that as of April, Rwanda had placed at least 1,000 to 1,500 troops in Congo's rebel-controlled areas. M23 now controls two key Congolese cities – Goma and Bukavu – on the border with Rwanda. U.N. investigators say that it is through these cities that Congolese minerals are illegally trucked to Rwanda, often at night, where the ore is mixed with Rwandan coltan production in a bid to disguise its provenance before export. M23 and the Rwandan and Congolese governments did not respond to requests for comment. Congolese officials have repeatedly accused Rwanda of fomenting the conflict to plunder Congo's mineral wealth. According to a December U.N. report, the scale of the trade reached new heights after the capture of Rubaya by M23. The rebels went on to establish a parallel administration controlling mining activities, trade, transport and the taxation of the minerals produced there, the U.N. reported. Reuters reporters visited Rubaya in March this year and were told by M23 officials that the rebels had imposed a tax on mineral traders of 15% on the value of coltan they purchase from the informal miners who work the area. M23 was taking in $800,000 monthly from levies collected from coltan mining in eastern Congo, according to the December U.N. report. Simply reaching Rubaya's sprawling, beehive-like maze of pits is a major undertaking. Reuters journalists who visited the mining sites in March had to abandon their four-wheel-drive Land Cruisers after the vehicles became stuck on the muddy road from Goma. They walked 5 kilometers (3 miles) to reach the town and then hopped on the back of motorcycles with rebel officials to reach the pits. Activity in Rubaya begins before dawn, when thousands of miners descend on the pits cut into the rolling hills of Congo's North Kivu province, where many toil in 12-hour shifts. The tunnels can be as deep as 15 meters (49 feet) underground. Once fragments of ore are dislodged, porters carry sacks of the rubble to the surface where laborers have dug shallow basins that are filled with water. There, other workers, including women and children, wash the ore and separate it from sand and other debris before laying it into the sun to dry. The journalists were supervised by unarmed M23 personnel throughout their visit to the mining area. A reporter saw a rebel official jotting down in a notebook how many sacks each porter – covered in a fine white dust – carted to each collection point. Once the ore is dry, it is stacked on the backs of motorbikes that carry it to one of several depots in the nearby town of Rubaya, where it is sold to traders. With a M23 chaperone listening, Pascal Mugisha Nsabimana, a 32-year-old miner, told Reuters that working under rebel occupation was preferable to toiling under the supervision of Congo's military and its allies, who fled when M23 moved in on the area last year. Previously 'there was too much harassment, there were many different taxes, and often we, the diggers, were not paid. And even if we got something, it was poorly paid,' the miner said. He added that his current day rate had at least tripled to 15,000 Congolese francs ($5.15) with M23 in charge. In the early months following M23's takeover of Rubaya in April 2024, smugglers used motorcycles to sneak the ore into Rwanda via backroads to avoid scrutiny by Congolese forces remaining along the border, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the situation, including current and former smugglers, miners and local businessmen. The journey could take an entire day, according to two ex-smugglers who transported coltan this way until last year. They said they loaded their bikes each trip with three 50-kilogram bags and were paid about $34 for delivering it to coltan traders. But alterations implemented by M23 have proven a game changer in terms of efficiency, nine of those people said. Motorcycles are no longer the primary means of transport and are used only to ferry the coltan from the mine to the town of Rubaya. From there, the ore is loaded into four-wheel drive SUVs, pickups and other vehicles capable of hauling anywhere from two tons to 20 tons each, according to the people and the July U.N report. The system is faster, too. Since M23 drove Congolese troops from Goma and took control of that border city, coltan trucks can now pass freely through it on paved roads into Rwanda, slashing transport times, the people said. U.N. experts and human rights activists have long warned that profits from illegal mining are funding conflict. They say the trade has brought little wealth to local people and that child labor is common. Reuters witnessed at least a dozen children working at the Rubaya mine: Young boys entered the shafts to haul out ore and carry it to the basins where girls worked alongside adults washing and drying the coltan. Gregory Mthembu-Salter, a former U.N. expert on Congo who now does consulting on conflict minerals, said broad efforts by the mining industry, U.N. agencies and non-government organizations that began around 2010 to clean up the region's supply chain and prevent human rights abuses have largely failed. 'Here we are, 15 years later, (and) the same thing is happening,' said Mthembu-Salter, director of Phuzumoya Consulting. Some U.S. entrepreneurs have also set their sights on Rubaya's coltan treasure as President Donald Trump seeks to broker a peace deal to end the conflict and promote development of the region's mineral wealth. In Congo, those riches include huge reserves of cobalt, gold, copper, lithium and diamonds in addition to coltan. The country's formal mining sector at present is dominated by Chinese companies. Texas hedge fund manager Gentry Beach, who is chairman of investment firm America First Global and helped raise funds for Trump's election campaign in 2016, was part of a consortium looking to negotiate rights to the Rubaya mine, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The Financial Times earlier reported Gentry's interest in Congo's coltan. The source told Reuters that Beach's group had proposed to the Congolese government taking a majority stake in the mine, with Kinshasa retaining a 30% interest. Beach confirmed his interest in the project to Reuters but declined to provide additional details. Some U.S. lawmakers are pushing back. In an Aug. 8 letter to Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, more than 50 Democratic congress members criticized what they said was the administration's lack of transparency in its negotiations with the DRC. They also raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest in a Trump ally angling for rights to develop the Rubaya mine. White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in an Aug. 5 emailed statement that the agreement between Congo and Rwanda arranged by Trump has the potential to lead to lasting peace and stability in the region. The president's vision is a 'win-win outcome where all parties benefit—economically and politically—through cooperation and shared prosperity,' the statement said. She did not respond to a follow-up query about the letter from congressional Democrats. The U.S. State Department did not comment. On Aug. 1, the State Department said in a statement that it was committed to supporting efforts being made by Rwanda and Congo to advance security and economic cooperation. Heads of state would soon be invited to Washington for a summit, according to the statement, which did not elaborate. The U.S.-backed accord does not include M23. The rebel group is part of a separate, parallel mediation led by Qatar that seeks to end hostilities. The success of those talks in Doha is key to any lasting peace – and in making Rubaya safe for investment and development by Western mining interests. Some diplomats and analysts are dubious about the prospects for a speedy resolution. Congo and M23 rebels pledged in Doha to reach a peace deal by August 18. But progress has been jeopardized by the killing of at least 319 civilians in eastern Congo last month, according to the U.N., which says the attacks were carried out by M23. Reuters could not independently confirm those killings. M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa told the news agency last month that it would investigate, but he said reports of atrocities could be a 'smear campaign' against the insurgent group. Meanwhile, the U.S.-brokered deal calls for Rwandan troops to pull out of Congo. But Rwandan President Paul Kagame said last month he was not sure the agreement would hold. Kagame said Congo first must live up to its promises to subdue the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an eastern Congo-based ethnic Hutu militia linked to the Rwandan genocide, which Kigali sees as an existential threat. Josaphat Musamba, a Congolese researcher and Ph.D student at Ghent University in Belgium, said suppressing the militia would be a tall order for the DRC's military, which is no longer present in large swathes of M23-controlled territory. 'It's difficult to neutralize the FDLR as long as M23 are there and the Congolese army has not redeployed,' Musamba said. He described both peace initiatives as 'piecemeal' efforts that aren't dealing with 'the reality on the ground.' Another formidable undertaking would be transforming Rubaya's current crude system of coltan extraction into a modern operation, said a senior diplomat who is closely following events. 'No one talks about the feasibility of giving out these mining concessions and running these concessions, especially since the whole mine is artisanal mining,' done almost entirely by hand, the diplomat said.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Reuters
Congo army and rebels trade blame over clashes, troop buildup
KINSHASA, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Congo's army on Tuesday accused Rwanda-backed rebels of carrying out multiple attacks in eastern Congo which it said violated agreements signed in Washington and Doha, and warned it reserved the right to respond to provocations. The army statement came a day after the rebel group, known as M23, accused Congolese forces of mobilising more troops and violating the terms of a declaration of principles signed on July 19 in Doha voicing support for a permanent ceasefire. The conflicting statements came as peace talks scheduled to resume in Doha last week have been delayed. In the declaration of principles, Congo and M23 pledged to begin talks by August 8 and aim for a final deal by August 18. Neither side currently has delegations in Doha. M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa said last week that the rebels had not received an invitation to the talks. Another rebel leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the group would not go to Doha "until Kinshasa begins to respect the declaration of principles, which provides for the release of our detained members". The statement on Tuesday from Congo's army said M23 was perpetrating almost daily attacks on its positions. The earlier M23 statement said Congo's army had carried out significant troop movements and military equipment deployments in six different locations. The Qatar-hosted talks were intended to run parallel to a mediation effort by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration involving Congo and Rwanda. Washington hopes the diplomatic push will produce a sustainable peace and attract billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium. M23 rebels seized eastern Congo's largest city Goma in January as part of a rapid advance that has given them control of more territory than ever before. Rwanda, which has long denied helping M23, says its forces act in self-defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The Independent
09-08-2025
- The Independent
Rwanda-backed rebels have killed at least 80 civilians in recent weeks, Congolese authorities say
Rwanda-backed rebels have killed at least 80 people in eastern Congo in recent weeks, Congolese authorities said, despite the ongoing Qatar-led peace process aiming to end the conflict. The army said in a statement late Friday that it is 'fiercely condemning a series of mass murders of civilians by the RDF/M23-AFC coalition" in South Kivu, including of 80 people on Aug. 4 in the village of Nyaborongo, and of six civilians, including two minors, on July 24 in the village of Lumbishi. 'In addition to this excessive criminality, the M23/AFC is engaged in the forced recruitment of young people, including minors, to join their illegal organization,' the statement said. The continuing violence could threaten Qatar-led efforts to get Congo and the rebels to sign a permanent peace deal by the goal of Aug. 18. One of the deal's conditions is the protection of civilians and safe return of millions of people displaced by the conflict. There was no immediate comment from M23. Earlier this month, the the U.N. human rights chief said that M23 killed 319 people over the past month in a different part of the region, describing the toll as one of the largest documented in such attacks since the M23 rebels resurfaced in 2022. Citing firsthand accounts, U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said in a statement that the rebels, backed by members of the Rwandan Defense Force, targeted four villages in North Kivu province's Rutshuru territory between July 9 and July 21. M23 denied the accusations and called the U.N. statement 'unverified and politically motivated.' 'These allegations constitute a blatant manipulation of the facts, a violation of basic principles of impartiality, and a serious attack on the credibility of U.N. institutions,' said Lawrence Kanyuka, the spokesperson for the Congo River Alliance, an umbrella organization which includes M23. 'We call for the opening of an independent investigation and hope that the organizations that published this report can participate in it.' The M23 earlier this year seized two key cities in eastern Congo, in a major escalation with the help of neighboring Rwandan forces. Congo has long been wracked by deadly conflict in its mineral-rich east, with more than 100 armed groups active. The two sides on July 19 signed a declaration of principles in Qatar to end the fighting and commit to a comprehensive peace agreement that would include the restoration of state authorities in key eastern cities controlled by the insurgents.
