DR Congo: The games go on ( and on )......

New Times ( Rwanda ) reports

East DR Congo militia want to join peace talks

 

                                                                                 Mai Mai kifuafua. Net photo.

Members of the eastern DR Congo militia Mai Mai say they deserve to be included in talks between the Kinshasa government and the M23 rebel movement.

“The Mai Mai have several well-founded demands. ... We want to be and should be part of the talks,” Joseph Assanda, who represents 11 Mai Mai groups based in South Kivu province, told AFP on Monday.

As if things weren't way to complicated already. The reality is though that there is no way that Mai Mai can be included in the talks. It would be interesting to know who is behind these demands. My bet would be Kinshasa. 

The talks in Kampala, which were adjourned on December 21 until Saturday, concern a 2009 accord that applied to dozens of armed groups in the volatile mineral-rich region.

The accord aimed at ending chronic unrest in the area, especially since the 1994 Genocide in neighbouring Rwanda sent tens of thousands of refugees across the border as well as thousands of elements that participated in the Genocide.

There seems to be a determination on all sides to screw up any chance of these talks working which I guess is consistent with the spirit of the 2009 accord.
The unrest has served as a constant cover for the motley groups to plunder the region.

The Mai Mai militia groups are indigenous to the region, known for their fearlessness said to be based on the belief that water protects them from bullets.

This particular stupidity seems to promulgated at every opportunity by the main stream media. If they believed that drops of water would protect them from bullets it is a fairly safe assumption that they would not be demanding representation at the talks in any physical sense. I struggle to understand why any media would print such utter crap, it is condescending, culturally inaccurate and racist.

They have been known to shift their alliances with different rebel movements in a country whose two back-to-back wars from 1996 to 2003 claimed a staggering number of lives.

The chronic unrest has allowed myriad opportunists to plunder the area’s rich mineral deposits, often with their bare hands.

How fucking hilarious, the propaganda mouth piece of the Rwandan Government describes the the Rwandan leadership no less, as " ...myriad opportunists to plunder " read it and weep.

The M23 rebels, who occupied the key eastern mining hub of Goma for nearly two weeks in November, emerged out of a previous rebel force which was integrated into the DR Congo army under the peace pact signed on March 23, 2009.

They mutinied last April, claiming mistreatment and the failure of the Kinshasa government to implement the accord.

After withdrawing from Goma on December 1, the M23 rebels entered talks with the DR Congo government on December 9.

The talks mediated by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region are taking place in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

Except of course they aren't. Many things might be happening in Kampala but " talks " isn't one of them.

Assanda took issue with the venue.

“We are Congolese, and the agreement was signed in (DR) Congo. We want talks that will include us to take part in Congo,” Assanda said.

Which shows a lack of understanding about the whole Kampala process something I am inclined to be very forgiving of.

The Kinshasa government should “pay particular attention to other armed groups that signed” the accord, said a Mai Mai official, Longangi Kanyere.

His group is among 11 Mai Mai groups based in South Kivu province who signed the accord.

“We need more consideration,” he said. “The ranks earned by our soldiers who are still in the bush ... should be recognised.”

I suspect that this is a demand for money. On the face of it it would be cheap easy solution if my suspicions are correct.

He said that if this demand were met, many other armed groups in South Kivu, as well as in North Kivu, “would spare no effort to help the Congolese government bring a sustainable peace to the eastern DRC.”

As I said I suspect Kinshasa is behind this Mai Mai initiative. The problem of course is that the last time this was tried it resulted in a shambles and it is hard to see how it would end any differently this time regardless of Mai Mai efforts. 

Rwanda- The Crocodile hunters move

Africa View reports 

UN Security Council to sanction DR Congo rebels
By AFP | Saturday, October 20  2012 at  10:29

The UN Security Council has announced plans to impose sanctions against leaders of the M23 rebel movement for its attacks on civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

And in what appeared to be a rebuke to neighbouring Rwanda, it insisted on an end to outside backing for the movement.

Ouch ! That is a slap in the face kick in the balls, yesterday Kilgali proclaimed it has the confidence of the world it didn't of course  Rwanda was elected to the UN Security Council because no other country stood for the African seat.

New Times ( Rwanda )   

" The election of Rwanda by 148 votes represent a vote of confidence from the UN General Assembly. It also means that other countries do not subscribe to the so-called expert reports which are not founded on facts."

As I have said previously if you can only get 148 votes out of 193 and you are the only candidate then it is hardly a ringing endorsement.That the permanent members along with those countries ending there two year term and the countries with a further year remaining have seen fit to endorse the panel of experts despite Rwanda's election is probably the largest diplomatic " get fucked " we have seen in quite a while.

A recent UN report accused Rwanda's defence minister, General James Kabarebe, of being the "de facto" commander of the M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo.

Friday's Security Council statement called on M23 and other armed groups in the chronically unstable but resource-rich region, including the Rwandan army, to "immediately cease all forms of violence and other destabilising activities".

"The Security Council expresses its intention to apply targeted sanctions against the leadership of the M23 and those acting in violation of the sanctions regime and the arms embargo," it said.

".....and those acting in violation... . " It might be a very lonely two years for the Rwandan UN delegate to the security council. Rwanda has been put on notice or more precisely the leadership of Rwanda has been put on notice.

More from New Times

" Rwanda’s new position speaks volumes against doubts and detraction made about the country’s progress, according to MP Ignacienne Nyirarukundo, Deputy Chairperson of the Chamber of Deputies’ standing Committee on Social Affairs.

“Rwanda has worked tirelessly towards the creation of international peace, and this was simply a vote of confidence from the community of nations. Regardless of what has been said in the media or in false reports, countries believe that Rwanda has the potential to firmly represent peace in UNSC,” she said."

She along with the rest of Rwanda read the tea leaves wrong. That said and despite being an adherent of the cock up rather than conspiracy theory of history, I am starting to wonder if this is a more subtle piece of work than I had first thought. It hardly seems credible that Rwanda could win a security council seat, are there other balls in play?

 

It expressed "deep concern" that M23 was still receiving support from neighbouring countries.

"The Security Council demands that any and all outside support to the M23 as well as other armed groups cease immediately," the statement said.

The council also called on all states in the region to condemn the M23 rebels and to work with the Kinshasa authorities to disarm all armed groups in the region.

That presents Rwanda with quite a dilemma, if you are a permanent member of the Security Council you can exercise a veto and prevent issue being discussed but as a temporary member you are not afforded that luxury while at the same time you are bound to implement the decisions of the Security Council.

New Times continues,

" I have never doubted Rwanda. These are small steps that Rwanda has been making over the years. First we joined EAC and instantly started implementing regional programmes to the benefit of the citizens, now we have been entrusted with safeguarding world peace. More is to come for sure."

Indeed Rwanda now represents all of Africa on a stage far greater than just membership of East African Community. Rwanda has of course served on the Security Council once before, the disgrace Rwanda brought to the Council the last time it served  is sure to be in the thoughts of members and in the Councils institutional memory. Possibly we have witnessed a very subtle bit of diplomacy. Has the Kagame regime out maneuvered itself ?

UN investigators accuse both Rwanda and Uganda, which border eastern DR Congo, of arming and supporting the M23 rebels, in a confidential report seen by news agency AFP.

Rwanda has repeatedly denied accusations that it backs the fighters.

How fitting Rwandas international reputation is now inextricably tied to the resolution of issues in the eastern DR Congo to the satisfaction of the world community which happens to think along the same lines as Kinshasa.