Why Kampala peace process is the only remedy for Congo woes

Last month, I spent a week in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where I got an insight into the happenings in this troubled part of the country. The area on one hand, is a bedrock for suffering for some people, and on the other, a source of lucrative income for others – who obviously do not want their money minting tap to run dry. The suffering I witnessed ranged from those languishing in different camps for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to those living in a state of hopelessness in villages, with no clear plan for the future, Those I spoke to said their primary concern is getting through that day, as tomorrow can take care of itself.The sentiment is not any different for the so-called elite living in the provincial capital Goma, who, despite the very visible presence of several garrisons of the UN peacekeeping troops Monusco in the different pockets of the city – not to mention their tanks that criss-cross the city’s streets day and night – still live with a permanent sense of uncertainty.Even the imminent deployment of the UN Intervention Brigade that will have combat mandate to engage the different armed groups in the region does not give any sense of assurance, if testimonies by the different people I talked to is anything to go by.There is a general sense of déjà-vu among Goma residents, concerning the success of this 3000-personnel brigade, who are expected to come with a new mandate to mount offensive against the several negative forces scattered in this region.The feeling is, the UN, notwithstanding the mandate they will have, are generally perceived as failures in the quest to pacify DRC, mainly owing to the many years –over a decade—it has been deployed in the country and the enormous operational budget on which the mission runs – currently standing at 1.5 billion US dollars.The Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon and the World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, last week, completed what they called a ‘historic tour’ of the region, in a quest to not only pacify Congo, but also ensure that stability goes hand in hand with economic growth, hence the announcement of a one billion dollar fund to spur growth through various projects including infrastructure development.During the visit, the UN boss voiced optimism that the deployment of the intervention brigade would help the situation in DRC return to normal, while at the same time agitated for the success of the Kampala peace process that seems stagnated.The Kampala peace process, which started last year under the auspices of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region, aims at pacifying the region through putting a stop to the rebellion by M23, which will lead to the repatriation of the thousands of Congolese refugees and allow the internally displaced to go back to their villages.The two are incompatible, either the UN has to shelf the intervention brigade to give chance the peace process, or forget about it and opt for the offensive by the brigade.The reasons the brigade offers little hope for success are many but the main one is – assuming these forces indeed manage to repulse the negative forces –which is also highly doubtable, how will they manage the next step, or clearly put, whom to pass on the mantle because clearly the Congolese armed forces FARC, are not up to the job.The hope for success by the Intervention Brigade to subdue the numerous groups, in the first place, is as I have said above, next to none because of the complexity surrounding the forces.First of all, apart from M23, the other groups cannot be seen as involved in classical combat warfare, given what I witnessed on the ground.In a village called Sake, about 30 kilometres from Goma, we saw drunk youth fighting on the street and on asking who the people were –they caught my attention because no one was making an effort to intervene –a woman standing next to me said rather casually that one of them was a Mayimayi militiaman while the other was a policeman.That is the nature of the militia groups in this area – there are many different groups and difficult to penetrate. These militiamen actually live in villages with their families, making fighting them, by foreign troops almost impossible. This leaves the option for the peace process the only feasible option, because it leaves the matter between the Congolese themselves to forge peace for their own country.The author is an editor at The New Times

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Why Kampala peace process is the only remedy for Congo woes