Jerry Nguwa, AfricaNews reporter in Nairobi, Kenya
To reinforce its attacking force, the rebel group M23 has been recruiting in Uganda and Kenya. This writer came across a group of would be fighters who allege to have been given 2000 USD in advance and promised another 3000 USD when they arrive in Congo. The recruitment process in Kenya is mainly conducted in Mwiki Kasarani, Githurai and Kirigu near waithaka.
The target population seems to be young Banyamulenge. The writer also personally visited a wounded young man at MP SHAH Hospital in Nairobi who gave some chilling insider news and whose exorbitant bill was swiftly paid by “well wishers”.
Known to forcibly recruit young and adult male in Northern Kivu and causing the flight of more than 560 homesteads, the M23 is said to loot livestock and retailing them across borders in Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. The proceeds and donations from banyamulenge in the Diaspora are said to help recruit willing fighters in East Africa.
The belligerent Eastern Congolese group M23 led by General Bosco Ntanganda might be having a bigger agenda than we think. With alleged support from the Rwandan’s government, the group has been given the Congolese army a run for it money.
The rebel movement has been gaining ground in Northern Kivu to the point, the United Nations Mission for Stabilization in Congo (MONUSCO) had to get involved and prevent M23 from progressing further. This involvement came at a price when an Indian Peacekeeper was killed.
M23 is a group of mainly Banyamulenge ethnic fighters who fought alongside Gen. Nkunda in the CNDP before joining the Congolese National Army and later switch allegiance to another dissident, Bosco Ntanganda who is been sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his role in atrocities committed in Ituri when he served as Thomas Lubanga deputy.
Mr. Lubanga has been convicted at The Hague to 14 years in jail.
The conflict in the Eastern part of the expansive Democratic Republic of Congo has strained relations between the DRC and Rwanda who seemed to work together until last may when the fighting erupted.
The strained relations seemed to have been ironed when President Kabila and his Rwandan counterpart Kagame met at the last African Union conference in Addis Ababa to agree on an international force that will patrol their common border to avert disastrous happenings.
To reinforce its attacking force, the rebel group M23 has been recruiting in Uganda and Kenya. This writer came across a group of would be fighters who allege to have been given 2000 USD in advance and promised another 3000 USD when they arrive in Congo. The recruitment process in Kenya is mainly conducted in Mwiki Kasarani, Githurai and Kirigu near waithaka.
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