Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - In North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the situation is still precarious for the presence of hundreds of military deserters who have remained loyal to Bosco Ntaganda, former Chief of Staff of the CNDP (National Congress for the Defence of the People), a rebel movement that has formally signed a peace deal with Kinshasa but in reality the action to destabilize this part of the Country continues.
According to an analysis sent to Fides by " Peace Network for Congo ", a group of military deserters loyal to General Bosco Ntaganda has formed a new rebel movement, called M23, in reference to the peace agreement signed on March 23, 2009 , an agreement that had allowed the rebels of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) to integrate the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC). The military wing of this new movement is the Congolese National Army/ CNDP (ANC/CNDP). Its boss is Colonel Sultani Makenga, who deserted on May 4.
According to its founders, the objective of the M23 movement is to reinforce the peace agreement signed in 2009 between the Congolese government and he CNDP. According to them, the peace agreement negotiated with the government on March 23, 2009, was not well implemented, therefore, in a statement on May 6, they argue that it is necessary to "revitalize the application."
Some members of civil society in North Kivu believe that the new rebel movement was created by Ntaganda and his closest collaborators, with the objective to reposition itself on the political scene, in a time when the institutions that have arisen since the last elections are shaping up .
According to the opinion of many observers, General Bosco Ntaganda, prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity, is preparing a new scenario that could allow him to go hard on the Congolese political limelight.
With the creation of this movement, General Bosco Ntaganda probably wants to show that he is still an important person with whom the Congolese government must negotiate and cooperate. Therefore the Congolese authorities are forced not to hand him to the ICC.
The calculations of the number two of the former CNDP are also strengthened by the bonds which he has kept for several years with many political and military Congolese. Bosco Ntaganda and his many collaborators have become powerful because they are also involved in the illegal exploitation of mineral wealth in eastern DRC. It is this illegal trade in minerals that feeds the various armed groups and warlords who lay down the law in the East. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 10/5/2012)
