Reflections on sunday: The rise of the Bamongoli!

At first I thought they meant ‘Mongols’, that small ethnic group found between Russia and China. But no, sir; the man was serious about Abamongoli whom he claimed lived in the Kivu Province of DR Congo, and spoke a language that, by its name, sounded like some obscure Kinyarwanda dialect. The BBC Kinyarwanda programmers should be encouraged to host more of such talks because they inadvertently expose the absurdity of the claims of some Congolese community members. However, the presenter was also unintentionally stating that they have been masquerading under other nomenclatures. I know this because I lived with them in Bambo, near Masisi in Kivu, eastern DR Congo. During 1961 ‘Parmehutu’ mock referendum held in Rwanda, we hit Kivu as fleeing refugees, with ‘Parmehutu’ militia hot on our heels baying for our blood. The Rwandan massacres of that time did not reach millions as in 1994, but were nonetheless vicious and left many people dead and others maimed. When we settled in Kivu, our workforce was dwindled, especially as the young and strong had been targeted. To our astonishment, we were accommodated by the welcoming Kinyarwanda-speaking people who helped us in every way and catered for our every need. The Kinyarwanda-speaking community was called Banyarugari, which refers to Rwandans who lived in the ‘extended’ part of Rwanda. Their region had been part of the northern fringes of Rwanda, before the balkanisation of the region by the colonialists, who chopped off big swathes of Rwandan land. The Banyarugari were therefore happy to welcome their fellow Banyarwanda, having grieved for long that colonialism had detached them from their brothers and sisters. We lived happily together, and it would have been forever after, if Mulere-Mayi had not struck in 1963. Mulere-Mayi was a rebel group that rose against Mobutu in the wake of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba. The Banyarwanda refugees got involved in this problem after a long-nosed rebel had been caught at the battlefront, and so it was concluded that the Rwandan refugees were assisting the Mulere-Mayi rebels. This prompted the Mobutu government to order the forced expulsion of all Rwandan refugees. However, when the Congolese peasants attempted to attack us, they didn’t know what hit them. The few young men who had survived the Rwandan pogroms, along with the then Banyarugari of Kivu, united and constituted themselves into a formidable force that looked like a Roman army, with their spears, bows and arrows. The Congolese peasants took flight because they could not stand the group; some had spears and arrows sticking out of their bodies, like the Kenyan young man whose picture you must have seen in last week’s papers! (Macabre as this may sound; you must understand that it was in self defence). Soon the Congolese army moved in, but by that time we had got wind of their impending attack and we embarked on a long trek to Uganda. Understandably, the Banyarugari could not join us in this hazardous escape attempt, choosing to rather negotiate their stay with the Congolese army. After much negotiation, they renounced their connection with Rwanda and apologised for fighting alongside the Rwandan refugees. They also pledged to hunt down every Rwandan and, to cement their promise, they changed their names from Banyarugari to Bamagrevi (‘Les Magrévis’, in French). They had been known by that name until I got to hear of Bamongoli. We can understand why they changed to Bamongoli. You’ve probably heard of the genocidaires of Rwanda who are wreaking havoc in the eastern part of DR Congo, who command such control that they even levy taxes from the Congolese populace; it sounds like a government within a government. The Bamongoli joined the Kinyarwanda-speaking community and have now taken charge of the region. Their reason of being is to fight the Rwandan government, but they know that it is so strong that they cannot entirely rely on their ‘cause’ for success. They need a place to use as a launch-pad if it is possible to attack, and yet it must be a place where they can pass as innocent citizens. The answer, according to their reasoning, lies in a new name as a Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese community. If all this sounds confusing, it is because the whole situation is confused. Anyway, the initially innocent Banyarugari were turned into hateful people by the Mobutu government and then turned into killers, as ‘Les Magrévis’, by the Habyarimana regime. Now the Rwandan mass-murderers are using them as a shield against international justice and have convinced them to take on the name of Abamongoli. Surely, the Interahamwe/ex-FAR criminals should be fished out of this poor, innocent Kinyarwanda-speaking community. (You must forgive me if this account is not exactly accurate. You must also understand that most of the events took place when I was still young. Yes, believe it or not, I was once young!) E-mail: ingina2@yahoo.co.uk