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Museveni, Kagame order M23 rebels to Get out of Goma: Rebels say NO!!!
M23 accused of imposing new leaders and taxes
Publish Date: Jan 23, 2013
By
Raymond Baguma and agencies
The civil society in eastern DR Congo has accused M23 rebels
of replacing leaders and imposing heavy taxes on local communities while peace
talks continue in Kampala.
According
to AFP, the civil society said that since taking control of North
Kivu, M23 is raising taxes and naming their own tribal chiefs in
place of legal traditional leaders who have fled.
Etienne
Kambale from the federation of civil society non-governmental organisations in North Kivu cited that a man called Makombe the
traditional chief of Buhamba sector had been replaced with Rusisi, who escaped
from a prison recently.
Also,
Benjamin Bonimpa was named administrator of Rutshuru after the rebels seized
the territory last July. Also, the legal administrator, Justin Mukanya, now
runs a “free” part of Rutshuru, bordering the Lubero territory.
But
Jean-Marie Runiga, the M23 leader dismissed the accusations. “These tribal
chiefs do their work and we do our own. We can't leave a population without
leaders. To say that M23 is shifting traditional power is propaganda (...)
these are things that we would never do.”
Runiga
added, “We take ordinary customs duties and taxes. It’s just the same as in the
time of the government. The same taxes are still received by us for three
reasons – security, the upkeep of the administration and road repairs.”
The
M23 rebels captured Goma on November 20, but withdrew from Goma two weeks later
after the intervention of regional leaders under the International Conference
of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
The
accusation against M23 comes as the Kampala
talks with the DRC government moved into the substantive stage after adopting
rules of procedure and agenda.
The
talks being facilitated by the defence minister Dr. Crispus Kiyonga aim to find
a peaceful solution to the on-going conflict in the provinces of South and North Kivu.
