New president of the M23 rebel movement, Bertrand Bisimwa (in orange tie)
First Read:
Fooling us about Uganda’s neutrality in the Congo Conflict!!! Militarizing the Congo to help USA and allies to rape Congo resources: DRC troops, civilians fleeing to Uganda after rebel clashes
There goes the Confusion again: Fighting in eastern DR Congo between M23 rebels and government forces leaves 19 dead
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2013/05/there-goes-confusion-again-fighting-in_22.htmlBishop Jean Marie Runiga, Becomes a spokes person for the M23: Using Confusion, misinformation and disinformation to Hide the Central role of USA, her allies and client states in the Conflict in the ‘Democratic’ republic of Congo(DRC)
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/07/bishop-jean-marie-runiga-becomes-spokes.html
Jesus’ rebel??? Bishop Jean-Marie Runiga the spokes person of M23 rebels admits visiting Kampala but says they will not leave Goma
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/11/bishop-jean-marie-runiga-spokes-person.html
Congo rebel leader, Col. Sultani Makenga sneaks into Kampala
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/11/congo-rebel-leader-col-sultani-makenga.html
Uganda arrests suspect recruiting for M23 rebels
Publish Date: May 31, 2013
By Vision Reporter
Authorities in the western district of Kiruhura have arrested a 32-year-old man suspected of recruiting Ugandans into the Congolese M23 rebel group activities.
Authorities in the western district of Kiruhura have arrested a 32-year-old man suspected of recruiting Ugandans into the Congolese M23 rebel group activities.
According to the District Police Commander, Norman Musinga, the suspect Reuben Kamuhangi was arrested at Kyapa trading centre in Kiruhura district.
Kamuhangi is a resident of Nyankumba cell, Sanga Sub County, Kiruhura district.
Police said he was arrested as he was preparing to transport the six 6 ‘recruits’ to Democratic Republic of Congo after promising them a monthly pay of sh350, 000.
The recruits are identified as Albert Muyambi, 24, of Bukanga in Isingiro district, a 19-year- old Livingstone Mafundo and Daniel Ntambara, 32, of Sembabule district. Others are Emmanuel Gumisiriza, 19, Katojo Marongo of Lwengo district, Julias Byabashaija, 35, of Kyidera in Kamuli district and 23-year-old James Murisa a Rwandase national.
Musinga said they have mounted a search for Sam Baguma who is alleged to have been working closely with Kamuhangi in the recruitment.
The March 23 Movement (French: Mouvement du 23-Mars), often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army, is a rebel military group based in eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), mainly operating in the province of North Kivu.
The group is currently involved in an armed conflict with the DRC government which has led to the displacement of large numbers of people.
On 20 November 2012, M23 took control of Goma, a provincial capital with a population of one million people, but was requested to evacuate it by ICGLR as DRC government had finally agreed to negotiate with them.
On 23 March 2009, the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) signed a peace treaty with the DRC government, where it became a political party, and the M23 soldiers integrated into the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC).
M23 takes its name from the date of these peace accords (March 23). The armed wing of the group is led by General Makenga Sultani, who has served as acting president of the group since the 28 February 2013 removal of Bishop Jean-Marie Runiga Lugerero, a former CNDP member.
Comment
The story
below aims at fooling the world into believing that there are genuine factions
inside the M23. When the truth is that the USA and its allies are the
architects of the M23 movement. Precisely the M23 is a mercenary army for American
interests in the DR Congo.
New Rebel Leader Drops Challenge to President
Nick Long
March 08, 2013
GOMA, DRC —
A faction of the rebel group M23 in the Democratic Republic of Congo has
chosen a new civilian leader who says he won’t challenge the legitimacy of
President Joseph Kabila.There was a festive atmosphere at Thursday’s M23 congress at Bunagana, a small town on the DRC-Ugandan border.
'We’re talking about peace, we’re talking about peace' was the chorus of this theme song for the day, which played as the 200 or so M23 members, wives, husbands and other guests waited for the announcement of the movement’s new president.
The M23 and the government have been talking about peace for the past three months and during that time the rebel movement has split into two warring factions.
This congress was called by one of those factions, led by Sultani Makenga. The other faction is led by Jean Marie Runiga, who is close to Bosco Ntaganda, a former DRC army general who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.
The high point of Thursday’s meeting was the announcement that Runiga had been removed as M23 president and replaced by Bertrand Bisimwa, a former spokesman for the M23 and for previous rebel movements.
In a brief speech, Bisimwa outlined his version of the movement’s program, which, unlike Runiga’s, does not include trying to overthrow or replace the government.
Later, he told journalists that the split between the Makenga faction and Runiga was over this issue.
Bisimwa said the Makenga group recognizes the government, and he claimed the government returns the compliment.
"We are the real M23. I heard yesterday the government of Kinshasa was talking about this and they said they are going to negotiate with our M23. There is no confusion about that," Bisimwa said.
Some people think Kinsahsa and Sultani Makenga have already reached a peace deal. Makenga was asked by journalists on Thursday if it was true Kinshasa had paid him millions of dollars to sweeten the deal. His reply was confusing.
He says he cannot say whether or not he has taken the money, adding that it’s a rumor put out by Runiga to blacken his reputation. It’s a lie, he says finally, and journalists should ask the government, they will deny it.
Makenga was also asked if he will sign a peace deal with the government on March 15.
He says he does not know if that will happen, adding that negotiations have not yet ended.
Most observers think the Makenga faction has the upper hand in the M23.
Djentio Maundu, head of research for the North Kivu Civil Society Association says the Makenga faction controls most of the territory M23 occupied last year, while the Runiga-Ntaganda faction controls only a small area. He said the faction is leaving that area and moving towards the neighboring territory of Masisi.
A Runiga faction combatant inside that faction’s territory said this week that he wants to join the government forces.
He said he and his colleagues could join the government forces as there is no international arrest warrant against them - only against Bosco Ntaganda.
The fact he was prepared to say this to a reporter, regardless of the possible consequences, suggests that Runiga and Ntaganda are losing control of their faction.
Interview with
Bertrand Basiimwa, the man leading the M23 rebels
A year after its formation, the March 23
Movement, M23, is bristling against international intervention in the DRC. Daily
Maverick spoke to M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa about his view of M23’s conflict
with the Congolese state, the possibility of further conflict with the
newly formed UN brigade and South Africa’s approach to securing peace in the
DRC.
“We are not
criminals,” an M23 representative told Daily Maverick through a private message
on Twitter on Monday. The group had taken umbrage at a line in one of our
stories that quoted the Red Cross saying 90 bodies had been found in the wake
of the rebel group’s occupation of Goma, the capital of the eastern region of
the DRC, late last year. “The problem we have is that many NGOs are working for
Kabila,” the representative said.
The Mouvement du 23-Mars, or the March 23
Movement, which has come to be known as M23, came into existence in April 2012,
when hundreds of mainly ethnic Tutsi soldiers of FARDC, the national army,
mutinied over poor living conditions and poor pay. Most of the mutineers were
members of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), which in
2009 signed a deal with the government. Dissidents felt Kinshasa had not fully implemented the deal.
March 23 is the date on which that agreement was
signed.
One year after the formation of M23, however, the
movement is under intense pressure as it warns against international
intervention in the DRC in the guise of the United Nations intervention
brigade.
We spoke in a telephone interview to M23
president Bertrand Bisimwa about the movement’s conflict with the Congolese
state and the possibility of further conflict; this time with the newly formed
UN brigade:
Daily Maverick: You are now
facing a huge threat from the UN, is M23 united enough to withstand this
threat?
Bertrand Bisimwa: There is only one M23. I do not know about the
other you are talking about.
DM: Loyalists of M23’s
ex-political leader, Jean-Marie Runiga, were fighting rivals loyal to military
chief Sultani Makenga last month.
Bisimwa: Runiga is [now] in refugee camp [in Rwanda], did he
say that he is leading another movement in the camp?
DM: No, but is there still
support for him in M23?
Bisimwa: I did not hear anybody
these last days [claiming to support Runiga]. We ended the indiscipline in our
movement which was brought by Runiga, Ntagandada, Ngaruye and Zimulinda. Their
game is over.
DM: How are the Kampala peace
talks between M23 and the DRC government that began in December 2012, under the
auspices of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR),
progressing?
Bisimwa: Until now we are
waiting for the programme from [the Ugandan] mediation. We gave to the
facilitator our proposal of peace agreement. We are waiting for his conclusion.
DM: What are your proposals?
(Bisimwa promised to send M23’s proposals via
email but had not yet done so at the time of writing.)
DM: Do you think South Africa
should have adopted a different approach to bringing peace in the DRC?
Bisimwa: South Africa should help our country to get
peace by the talks which are now in Kampala.
This country is a model of liberation fight but Zuma [is supporting] a
dictatorship.
DM: Zuma’s government says
Kabila is democratically elected so you should not be fighting against him and
the country’s army. What is your response?
Bisimwa: We are fighting for
good governance in our country and it’s our right to live like every people in
the world. Do you know that Congolese government supports [rebel groups like
the] FDLR, LRA, ADF-NALU, FNL and others groups which are killing our people in
the eastern part of our country? The government killed many journalists, human
rights activists, arrested opposition leaders.
There is no roads in our country.There are no
hospitals, no school, etc.
DM: What is your plan then to
fix this?
Bisimwa: As you will see in our
peace proposal, we want make an emergency plan to secure and reconstruction of
[the] eastern [part] of our country. This plan will be financed by money which
is produced in this area for five years.
DM: Do you support a breakaway
from Kinshasa
and the creation of an independent state?
Bisimwa: No, that is not our
plan. Fifty-three years now, Kinshasa
is not able to manage our problems here in eastern [region] of our country. We
want to solve our problems by ourselves. All plans which Kinshasa made to solve these problems have
failed because they didn’t [involve] people of [the eastern region of the
country].
DM: When you occupied Goma last
year the Red Cross said 90 people were killed. Who is responsible?
Bisimwa: It is better to know
how these people died. There was fight in the town. We lost soldiers in that
war, they can be our soldiers or for government army or the fighters called
Mai-Mai. When the government soldiers withdrew, they killed people who were out
of their home.
DM: And now, if there is a
battle with the UN, how can M23 protect civilians?
Bisimwa: The only way to protect
civilians it’s to choose a peace[ful] way to end conflicts in our country and
this is possible. All the majority of [internally displaced people] are back in
their villages, they get peace from cessation of hostilities on the ground
since we left Goma town. Now, their hope is in talks in Kampala. The world should support these
talks.
DM: And if those talks fail?
Bisimwa: It can be a bad news
for our people they can’t admit this. But we also [can not] accept Kinshasa bringing war
again in our side as solution.
DM: Are you prepared for war?
Bisimwa: We are always ready to
defend ourselves
DM: Do you have support from
anyone outside of Congo?
Bisimwa: No, the propaganda from
Kinshasa tried
to use this possibility in its strategy of communication. And you know that our
government tried all times to reject his incapacity to lead our country to
others. It refused to admit that Congolese can claim good governance in the
country.
DRC Rebels Replace Leader
VOA News
February 28, 2013
Congolese rebel group M23 has dismissed its political
leader, Jean-Marie Runiga, accusing him of "high treason."
An M23 spokesman said Thursday that the group's military chief, General Sultani Makenga, has assumed leadership of the group.
Runiga confirmed his dismissal in a brief interview Thursday with VOA.
He said, "I have no comments to make even if I have been dismissed. My official spokesperson will detail the reasons why."
M23's military command released a statement late Wednesday,
saying chairman Runiga was unable to carry out the group's political aims.
It said Runiga also allowed Bosco Ntaganda, a former Congolese general, to influence high-level decisions. Ntaganda is wanted by the International Criminal Court for recruiting and using child soldiers.
M23's political spokesman Bertrand Bisimwa said Runiga may have fled to join Ntaganda.
At least eight people died in fighting late Sunday between what sources said were rebels loyal to Makenga and supporters of another leader.
The statement late Wednesday says the rebels want to continue peace efforts amid "positive signals" from the national and international community. They said they want to ensure a "peaceful and sustainable resolution" to unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The country has endured armed conflicts for more than two decades, including the latest eruption of violence last April. The M23 rebels captured several cities in November, demanding the government fully implement a 2009 peace deal designed to integrate rebels into the Congolese army.
Leaders from Africa's Great Lakes region are set to meet in Kampala March 15 to continue talks with M23. Members from 11 countries signed a peace deal Sunday aimed at ending decades of conflict in the mineral-rich eastern portion of the DRC.
The United Nations has imposed sanctions against M23 as a group, as well as individual measures against both Runiga and Makenga.
