Can the Great Lakes Region dare hope for peace?

Mr. Martin Kobler, head of the UN peace-keeping force in DR Congo, is reported to have sworn to turn his attention on other rebel groups, starting with the greatest remaining menace, FDLR, now that the Congolese army has control over the whole Congolese territory.This is a fresh voice and it’s what the DRC has always needed. A forceful voice that’s clear about what to do to deal with the mess of many years that this sorry country has always found itself in. The prospect of the Congolese people finally breathing a sigh of relief alone is already being celebrated by all their well wishers.However, can we trust Kobler to have the capacity to deliver on his promise? We know that he has been on his job for a mere five months. In this short time, has he gathered the requisite knowledge of what is at play to grasp the full range of the implication of his pledge?When he talks of “now that the Congolese army has control over the whole Congolese territory”, does he know that it conjures up scary images of Minova?Minova, to those who may not be keen on following what happens in DRC, is a small town to which the Congolese army (FARDC) retreated when it chose not to confront M23 in Goma. It’s said the soldiers went on rampage, looting the small town bare and raping its every woman. Yet in Minova no one had ever been said to be related to the mutineers that FARDC was fighting. If anything, these were people who welcomed them and consoled them after their hasty retreat.True, it has been reported that the FARDC is disciplined now that it receives a regular salary and there have been punishments. However, it’s hard to believe that a salary and punishment here and there can change an uncontrollable army into a disciplined one overnight. This is an army that for all its life has lived with indiscipline and accusations of all forms of atrocities: stealing, plunder, maiming, raping, murder, say it.While he turns his guns on the other rebel groups, therefore, “starting with the greatest remaining menace”, our Kobler must not forget to keep his sights on the “menace” that’s FARDC.Now that it’s in the grip of this euphoria of its success, the temptation to plunder, rape and even murder in celebration may be too hard to resist.This, especially in an area of relatives of a conceived enemy, where there is reason for revenge. Keeping such comrades-in-arms in control, without forgetting his own MONUSCO, will be a challenge of no mean magnitude for Kobler.Let’s hope, however, that he will surmount it. Now, the next challenge: how will he take it on?Besides that “greatest remaining problem”, FDLR, being entrenched in parts of eastern DRC, it’s entrenched in the FARDC.Moreover, knowing the terrain better than the rest of its ‘Siamese-twin’ component, MONUSCO-FIB-FARDC, it’s the one that’s been showing the whole hybrid team the way around.Now, among gentlemen/women, one good turn deserves another, as we know. Or are we the only ones who know it?Beyond the good turn, there is that problem of bonding. Kobler has been overseeing FARDC-FDLR-MONUSCO-FIB (FIB for Force Intervention Brigade) while it brought force to bear on M23.He therefore knows that tearing it off will not be a walk-over, especially as it’s hard to tell FARDC soldiers from FDLR rebels. In fact, since the rebels speak both Kiswahili and Lingala unlike most of FARDC soldiers, they may be more welcome in this area than the soldiers!FDLR will prove harder to rout than M23 in many other ways. Among them, the fact that they are not only entrenched in northern but also in South Kivu.Once dislodged in northern Kivu, nothing will stop them from melting away and resurfacing in southern Kivu, where they’ll continue to be a security threat to Rwanda and to the Tutsi population there. This will be sure to trigger off an M23 of another form and shape.However, the biggest challenge in regard to ousting FDLR is that it’s not in DRC by accident. It’s there by design and whoever designed its being there will not allow his handiwork to turn into a hatchet job.In fact, Kobler’s effort in routing “the greatest remaining menace” may boomerang on him as his boss may not necessarily applaud his effort.The boss I refer to is none other than Hervé Ladsous, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. Ladsous may be an employee of the UN but he is a French man who, even in the UN, works for French interests.Whoever knows the history of today’s Rwanda knows that there is no love lost between this government and the French government. That love vanished exactly because, aside from other reasons, it’s the French government that sought sanctuary in DRC for FDLR.Still, all the above notwithstanding, all who care for peace in this region should laud Kobler as a noble man with noble intentions and wish him success.May Mr. Marin Kobler’s efforts be rewarded!butamire.wordpress.com

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Can the Great Lakes Region dare hope for peace?