Eastern Congo, The Untelevised War
By: Powell Buluma
Eastern Congo is once again embroiled in conflict that could trigger wider geopolitical repercussions. In early February 2024, members of the March 23rd rebel group commonly referred to as the M23 rebels launched attacks in Eastern Congo. The attacks were specifically focused on a mountain overlooking a region called Sake and this forced many civilians to flee to the largest city in the region, Goma, which has a population of around 2 million people.
In order to understand the motivations of the M23 rebel group and what is fuelling these attacks, we must first look at their origin. Following the Rwandan genocide in 1994 by extremist Hutus, many ethnic Tutsi who were the victims of attacks fled across the border to Eastern DRC. The extremist Hutus were defeated by the Rwandan Patriot Front (RPF) led by Paul Kagame who would go on to become the country's president and continues to act in the same capacity. These same Hutus would also flee across the border to eastern DRC where naturally, the Rwandan government wanted retribution but could not follow them across the border without breaking international law.
The M23 rebel group was subsequently formed with its membership consisting of primarily Tutsi. Skirmishes have occurred in the region for several years between the M23 rebels and government forces in addition to over a hundred other rebel groups with the most prominent being the Wazalendo rebel group. The Congolese government's minister of communication and media Patrick Muyaya in a recent interview with Aljazeera claimed that the M23 rebel group were being funded by the Rwandan Government in order to reign terror in the region. The minister went on to refuse any form of negotiation in order to reach an armistice with the rebel group. The rationale behind this being that the only way to reach a lasting solution to the region's conflict would be to negotiate with the Rwandan government who sponsor the rebel group with weapons and sophisticated military hardware such as reconnaissance drones and surface to air missiles.
Other regional players are also present. Both the East African Community and Southern African Development Community have deployed troops in the region over the decades to promote peace but with little actual effect. The use of diplomatic means in order to solve the conflict has also yielded little result as the parties involved all want different things and have so far not been able to reach an understanding. One might wonder why the conflict hasn't been solved by international organs such as the United Nations and that's where the matter becomes even more complex.
Congo is a country endowed with a wealth of mineral resources some of which such as Coltan, are crucial to modern day electronics. Naturally, this abundance in resources and an unstable government has led to power vacuums that have been filled by these rebel groups. The rebel groups then collaborate with international actors in order to benefit both of them. The result of this being that Internationally, countries cannot seem to come up with a unified solution to dealing with the issue of Congo's rebel groups as they have overlapping interests in the region.
The M23 rebels recently captured Kitshanga in Eastern DRC and had begun skirmishes near Goma city. The humanitarian concerns of the citizens have a potential to become dire if the conflict persists. There have already been reports on mass graves being uncovered in the region consisting of mostly civilian bodies. There is also the added risk of starvation and disease and in addition to this, the rape cases in the region have spiked since the conflict renewed with some survivors claiming the alternative they are given to this is death. As the saying goes, when two bulls fight, the grass suffers. It is therefore the innocent civilians who will suffer the most as the conflict drags on.
The renewed conflict is still fresh, and more news will develop as the weeks progress. Even though there is no end in sight for the conflicts in Eastern Congo, my hope is that one day, a lasting solution will be reached in the mineral rich country that will see a ceasefire to all the conflicts plaguing the country.
