DR Congo " On waves of silver I dreamed of gold 'Till I lost the peace that dreaming gives "

The Cameroon Tribune reports

FCFA 193 Billion Lost To DRC Gold Smuggling

                                                                               DR Congo conflict gold

A UN report for 2013 says corruption enabled gold to be shipped to Illegally Neighbouring countries.

The latest United Nations report Assessing the gold smuggling racket in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, says 400 million U.S. Dollars (about FCFA 193 billion) Was Lost by the country in back in 2013 as the mineral WAS smuggled to East African countries.

The FCFA are Central and West African currencies that are pegged to Euro incidentally not in use in the DR Congo.

According To the East African Review, businessmen teamed up with soldiers and politicians to steal DRC minerals, shipping them out via Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and Tanzania, with the money used in financing eastern DRC's recurring wars.

The Rift Valley Institute   (RVI ) make some interesting observations on the functioning of FARDC ( Congolese Army ) when it comes to matters economic.

“ Subordinates are obliged to pay regular amounts to superiors, often referred to as rapportage (‘bringing in’)—or, as many Congolese soldiers put it, ‘feeding the horse so the horse feeds you’. Rapportage works as an instrument of control: those failing to submit sufficient revenues are sent to so-called ‘drier zones’, with fewer opportunities to make money. The relationship between commander and subordinate is not one of unrestrained predation, but entails a kind of reciprocity. Just as subordinates are expected to deliver to their superiors, so they too are supposed to provide something in return: protection, advice, mitigation of punishments, promotion, leave, and training.”

The 276-page report by the UN Group of Experts on the DRC armed conflict says, corruption, poor quality of life for Citizens, illegal mineral exploitation and interference from Neighbouring countries, remain major sources of instability in the DRC.

Of course it isn't just gold or for that matter FARDC, again from the RVI:

" Opportunities for profiteering extend far beyond minerals: militias have exploited and traded charcoal, hardwoods, cannabis, fish, and wild animals. In addition, almost all armed groups depend heavily on illegal taxation, usually obtained at road-blocks and markets, and through food collections in villages. Some groups—like the FDLR and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan armed group largely operating in the Ruwenzori borderlands—also cultivate food crops on a large scale, trade consumer items, and have extensive investments in urban areas, owning shops, motor-cycles, and pharmacies. These activities require collaborators within the state and business sectors, evidence of armed groups’ broader social underpinnings."

Kenya and Uganda Have Become Major Exporters of gold since the two countries-have the infrastructure to transporting illegal minerals to   international markets. An Estimated 20 million people in DRC, Uganda and Rwanda, and Kenya to Some extent, depend on the illegal mining of DRC minerals as Their only source of livelihood.

Lets not forget coltan or Rwanda. 

" According to the United States Geographic Survey, Rwanda produced more than 25% of the world’s coltan in 2011, more than what their coltan deposits should be able to provide. Rwandan coltan mining relies on mines in the DRC, some of which are in conflict areas and some of which are not. Of the ten large Rwandan mining companies, only four have taken any measures to verify that their product is not conflict-sourced. Rwanda has also been implicated multiple times in Congolese coltan smuggling by the UN, along with Burundi and Uganda. However, Uganda and Burundi do not report having a coltan industry, so those claims are even more difficult for the UN to verify. It is believed that about half of all Rwandan coltan comes from conflict regions in the DRC."

Charges of gold smuggling against Uganda are not new. Some high-ranking military ounce Officials Were Accused by a UN Panel of involvement in smuggling Congolese minerals and other natural resources. HOWEVER, Uganda says it now HAS mineral processing protocol with the Congolese government and dealings with Congolese gold dealers are above board.

But it isn't the official Congolese gold dealers who are the problem.

Dr Congo: Gold. One more reasons to eliminate M23 ( as if any more were needed ).

Enough Project via All Africa reports.

Congo-Kinshasa: New Evidence - M23 Rebels in Congo Conflict Gold Trade

The Enough Project has released a groundbreaking new report that documents the conflict gold smuggling network of the Eastern Congo-based M23 rebels.

The report, "Striking Gold: How M23 and its Allies are Infiltrating Congo's Gold Trade," reveals how M23 is involved in the lucrative gold trade in eastern Congo, which is worth approximately $500 million per year overall. Instead of controlling mines directly, M23 has built alliances with other armed groups in gold-rich areas and expanded its contacts with influential traders in Uganda, Burundi, and Congo to trade gold.

If there is a criminal enterprise in the eastern DR Congo then we shouldn't be surprised to find M23 fingerprints all over it.

The report calls on U.S. Special Envoy Russ Feingold, the U.N. Security Council, U.N. Envoy Mary Robinson, and jewelry retailers to take concrete measures to limit the documented paths of conflict gold to international markets.

How ? Gold has a way of avoiding legal niceties. There is not a lot I don't know about gold extraction it having been a hobby of mine since childhood. Gold corrupts in a way no other mineral can. 

"Striking Gold identifies four main gold exporters whose business operations enable M23 and other armed groups to profit from the gold trade, according to UN experts reports and Enough Project research.

Ever heard of the Hydra ?

Cut off one head and another sprouts to replace it. The only way to deal with this is to eliminate M23. Rwandan backed insurgents in the DR Congo also share similar features with regard to the Hydra except they are not mythical and can be destroyed.

The report also names militia leaders, including M23 commander Sultani Makenga, who play a key role in the illicit trade. Makenga has built on the networks of former M23 co-commander Bosco Ntaganda and has extended alliances that cut across otherwise hostile ethnic and political divisions.

And Ntaganda is on remand at the ICC, I for one would be offering him every encouragement to spill his guts.  He owes M23 and Rwanda nothing, he owes the US and his captors his life... do a deal.

Ruben de Koning, co-author of the report, says, "Some of the major official gold exporters in Uganda and Burundi indirectly purchase smuggled gold from M23 and allied armed groups in violation of the U.N. arms embargo, and without exercising any due diligence on the origin of their gold. Sanctions against these individual exporters, as opposed to companies, would help prevent sanctioned owners from merely reinventing themselves under a new company name in order to continue operations.

I doubt it. We are talking gold.

U.S. and U.N. sanctions would make it harder for M23 and other armed groups to finance their struggle, and compel others to start mitigating such risk."

Sasha Lezhnev, Senior Policy Analyst at the Enough Project, says, "M23's deadly gold may be entering our jewelry stores or banks, which make up 80 percent of the global gold market.

The U.S. government and jewelers can help stem this problem at its root. U.S. envoy Russ Feingold should press Congo, Rwanda, and the Great Lakes region to finalize their certification system to weed out conflict gold. Jewelers must also step up efforts to build a clean gold trade in Congo by joining public-private alliances and tech company projects like 'Solutions for Hope.'"

On the whole I think it might be easier and more efficient to kill the M23 bastards.

M23 allies have consolidated control over mines, particularly those in Walikale and Lubero territories in North Kivu province and in Ituri district in Orientale province.

The growing revenues have enriched those who perpetrate atrocities and crimes against humanity in the region. M23 and its allies have also secured cross-border transit routes for smuggling to Bujumbura, Burundi, and Kampala, Uganda, both important regional hubs for international gold markets.

De Koning adds, "The ball is in the court of the U.S. government and U.N. Security Council to sanction these known exporters. Responsibility also lies with the downstream gold industry to conduct proper due diligence and invest in a clean gold trade in Congo."

If the ball is is in the US and security council court then don't expect results anytime soon. MONUSCO and their Intervention ( Africa ) Brigade contingent along with FARDC should just get on with their mission.