Published March 5, 2008

What does the War on Terror have to do with Rwanda?  Certainly very little, but this is one of the pretexts that President Bush is using in Rwanda as he has elsewhere to strengthen US corporations access to the diverse natural resources from the other side of the Rwandan border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  By doing business with these corporations, rebel groups have been able to continue financing their war against the Congolese government for 11 years.  

The US-Rwanda relationship has caused a lot of grief among the Congolese people.  They have been speaking out, but they continue to be ignored. “What is the point of providing vaccine to our children when you are making and providing weapons to our enemies who will kill or rape them before our eyes?” This was the message of Congolese women to humanitarian organizations workers during their door-to-door children vaccination campaign in the city of Goma, North Kivu Province, D.R. Congo in 1997.  This was a direct complaint against the United States because of its military support to the government of Rwanda during its invasion of the Congo in 1996. 

By Ben Mwangachuchu, President Congo Peace Initiatives in the Kivus Inc.

The Sun City accord allowed the government of Congo to transition into a post war era by halting a regional war that opposed Rwanda and Uganda on one hand with its allied rebellions, Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie (RCD),  Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo (MLC), and Congo with its allied countries Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe on the other hand. What the post transition government failed to do so far is a focus on Truth and Peace Reconciliation. A sort of a “table ronde” among Congolese people to get to the core issues of the problems that created the situation we are in.
Given a very limited time we have, and the vast intricate situation of the Congo we are covering, our proposal is limited in scope of “Possible Solutions”.  We would need more time and appropriate forums to evaluate how far we came and the road map to an ever lasting peace in this Country. Nevertheless, we will try our best to give some talking points to allow participants to think about solutions that may bring peace in Congo.
 I.   The immediate and short term solutions to insecurity in Congo are:

 1.              Disarming by force foreign militias operating in eastern Congo such as the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR)/interahamwe, Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU), Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and National Liberation Forces (NLF)

2.               Securing civilians by assigning marked areas where they can be protected and fed while military campaign, that includes United Nations’ peace keeping mission (MONUC) and the Congolese national army (FARDC), target those foreign militias. Thousands of civilians are already in Internally Displaced Camps (IDP).  This can be a starting point to protect them while pursuing military campaign.

3.                  Create a buffer zone for those militias who wish to disarm voluntarily and be repatriated to their respective countries.

4.               Review the terms of “brassage” which is inadequate in its conception of 45 days with no basic standards in military training any where in the world.

5.           Payment of salaries to (FARDC) in timely manner, curbing down corruption within the military leadership that takes money away from soldiers for their own gain; thus creating an army that lives on people meager means.

Security, peace and ceasefire continue to be the center of concern in the eastern D.R.Congo.   Friday December 14, 2007 the Congolese army fought for five hours in Kazuba locality with Nkunda’s military support from Rwanda descending to Masisi via Runyonyi causing the people in the surrounding villages to run toward Rumangabo, Rubare and Rutshuru. Although the Congolese army conquered Nkunda’s headquarters of Muhake and several surrounding areas early in December, Nkunda was able to take them back shortly after.   Nkunda stopped at the door of Goma, the capital of North Kivu because the United Nations peacekeeping forces in DR. Congo (MONUC ) vowed to fire back if Nkunda’s forces were to advance into Goma. 

Unfortunately, negotiations and peace talks have not been able to meet Nkunda’s demands.   On Thursday, December 13th, alone four security related events occured in eastern Congo.  First, the Congolese minister of defense, Chikez Diemu, the chef state major general of the Congolese national army, Dieudonne Kayuma and their delegation visited Goma to find ways to deal with the recent defeat of the national army against Nkunda. Second, the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, called Nkunda from the UN climate change meeting in Bali and instructed him to disarm.  Third, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Mr. António Guterres arrived in Nkinshassa with a plan to visit the east to evaluate the situation of the internally displaced. And fourth, at the Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort Conference , in Kampala, Uganda, the D.R.Congo-Uganda Senior Diplomats Mixed Commission began its 5th session by seeking way to restore their broken relationship since Ugandan involvement in the D.R.Congo war in 1996.