A secret financial intelligence audit into the Congolese government’s battle against M23 rebels has shed light on high-level corruption and misuse of public funds to finance a fruitless war, with millions of dollars paid by the state to private military companies and arms brokers, according to Africa Intelligence, a news Website specialising in political and economic developments in Africa.
This comes a month after it was found out, in a UN report of December 2023, that Congolese authorities sought to hire 2,500 military contractors from Latin America to fight in North Kivu Province, where a government-led coalition is pitted against the M23 rebels in the volatile east of DR Congo. Led by Erik Prince, the founder of former security company Blackwater and current head of Frontier Resources Group (FSG), the plan to deploy mercenaries from Columbia, Mexico and Argentina "was reinitiated” in June and mid-July 2023, the UN report of December 2023 said.
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Africa Intelligence’s April 18 news report, "Secret financial intelligence audit into battle against M23,” notes that the DR Congo's financial intelligence unit, La Cellule Nationale des Renseignements Financiers (CENAREF) has been looking into the accounts of certain companies contracted by President Félix Tshisekedi's government as part of the ongoing war against the M23 rebellion.
According to Africa Intelligence sources, it is noted, in November 2023, the unit "which reports to finance minister Nicolas Kazadi, sent a request to all local banks for information regarding the account history of several companies contracted by the government to train and equip” the country's armed forces, the FARDC.
This move, as reported, was prompted by intelligence passed on in 2023 "by a foreign agency (most likely American) that was interested in the activities” in DR Congo of Osiris Global Trade. "The company was linked to Bulgarian businessman Dimitrov Aleksandar Lyubomirov and acted as an intermediary in the DRC on behalf of arms broker Kalandor,” reported Africa Intelligence.
"In addition to this company, CENAREF also looked into the military service providers that had provided training for FARDC special forces, particularly those operating at night who are nicknamed the ‘owls’. One such company was the Israeli company Fortress, which had signed a contract with the military affairs unit in the president's office known as the Maison Militaire, headed by General Franck Ntumba.”
As reported, analysts discovered that this firm was using a subsidiary account of a Congolese logistics company called Pinnacle on the books of the Equity BCDC bank to operate in the country.
"This company had a balance of at least $30m,” reported Africa Intelligence.
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Enquiries have not resulted in any sanctions
The companies that facilitated the acquisition of the Chinese CH-4 attack drones, whose deployment was meant to bring about a reversal in the balance of power against the M23 are also being targeted by the CENAREF investigation.
"The Congolese subsidiary of the Bulgarian company Agemira has had its bank accounts investigated, it is reported. Based in Goma, Agemira is responsible for the maintenance of warplanes, but it also acted as a broker in the purchase of the drones,” reported Africa Intelligence.
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As reported, the first batch of three, costing nearly $50 million, was destroyed - two in battle and one in a crash - while the second has just been delivered to DR Congo and is awaiting deployment. Once again, as reported, CENAREF's enquiries have not resulted in any sanctions.
"The CH-4 drone deal has raised tensions with Kazadi, who has long held up the release of funds to settle the initial order for nine aircraft. The Congolese treasurer has often been suspected of trying to interfere in military orders on which he has not been consulted. He is reputed to be close to several key securocrats who gravitate around the president's office, including Jacques Tshisekedi, who is in charge of internal security for his brother, and Mandungu Bula, aka "Kao", who is the president's private adviser. These two have a complicated relationship with Ntumba, who has long had a tight grip on contracts relating to the war effort.”
Jacques Tshibanda Tshisekedi is the Congolese President’s brother and adviser on security issues.
Kahumbu Mandungu Bula, alias Kao, is the man who replaced Fortunat Biselele – who faces treason charges – as economic adviser to President Tshisekedi in January 2023.
Stony silence among government members
According to Africa Intelligence, the hundreds of millions of dollars paid out by the treasury to fight the M23 are still nowhere near yielding results on the military front as the Congolese army continues to look incapable of dealing a decisive blow to the rebels.
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It reported: "The unease over this lack of results is palpable even at the most senior levels of government, where questions are being asked about the proper management of the huge sums of money involved.
"At a cabinet meeting earlier this year, the deputy prime minister in charge of defence, Jean-Pierre Bemba, was questioned on the subject by his opposite number in charge of the economy, Vital Kamerhe, prompting stony silence among the other government members present. Oversight of military contracts has long been a source of tension, with Bemba regularly complaining that he is left out of negotiations.”
What’s the root cause of the conflict in eastern DR Congo?
Analysts have pointed to, among others, the prevalent governance issues in Kinshasa.
What makes things worse is the spread of a genocide ideology, by FDLR, a terrorist militia formed by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
ALSO READ: Inside the secret DR Congo-FDLR pact
The genocidal forces fled to eastern Zaire, present-day DR Congo, in July 1994 and were given a safe haven. They continue to commit acts of genocide against the Congolese Tutsi as well as plot and execute attacks against Rwanda.
The situation in eastern DR Congo is a major human rights challenge for the international community, according to Kigali. There are more than 150 local and foreign armed groups in the region.
Besides their genocidal agenda, the militia group and its backers, also want to topple the government in Kigali.
The M23, a Congolese rebel group which Kinshasa claims is backed by Kigali, is fighting to stop the oppression, killing, and exclusion of the Congolese Tutsi community in eastern DR Congo.
The office of the United Nations Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide has documented the violence in eastern DR Congo, especially the persecution of the Tutsi communities who are targeted by terrorist groups including the FDLR and the Congolese national army.
The United Nations Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, has stressed that the Congolese government has the responsibility to protect the Tutsi and Banyamulenge communities who are targeted because of their identity, but their harassment and killing continues.
According to former South African President Thabo Mbeki, the DR Congo should disarm the genocidal forces on its territory in line with the Sun City Agreement signed between Kigali and Kinshasa in April 2003.
ALSO READ: UN Genocide prevention chief to genocidaires: We are watching you!
The former South African leader said implementation of the Sun City Agreement would bring a political solution to the instability in eastern DR Congo.