The Congolese government troops are yet to regain control of Bunagana border, a month after it was captured by the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels. Bunagana border, which connects to Rutshuru and Goma fell to the rebels on June 13, 2022.
The rebels overran the border forcing more than 150 Congolese governmentsoldiers who were manning it to flee into Uganda. Fighting between rebels andgovernment troops intensified in March this year, especially in Bweza and Jomba groupings.
Days after the rebels captured Bunagana, the Congolese army alias the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) through Lieutenant-Colonel Guillaume Ndjike Kaiko, the spokesperson of the Sokola 2 operational sector revealed that troops made a purely tactical so as not to cause casualties on the civilian side just like the rebels wished.
Ndjike vowed that the government troops would displace the rebels from the Congolese territorial boundaries. However, to date, the rebels are still occupying the border town.
Even the East African community leaders’ resolution to deploy a regional army to evict the rebels is yet to be implemented.
The rebels have reportedly started collecting taxes from cross-border traders. The rebels charge Uganda Shillings 4,000 for each crate of beer, Shillings 3,000 on a tray of eggs, and Shillings 3,000 on a 25kg bag of maize flour. The rebels however do not charge civilians who are crossing to Uganda from Congo while carrying food from their gardens.
Hajji Shafique Ssekandi, the Kisoro Resident District Commissioner says that the presence of the rebels has led to humanitarian challenges on the Ugandan side of Bunagana town council due to the huge influx at the border. Ssekandi says that more than 20,000 Congolese civilians are still camping in Rukundo, Bunagana town councils, and neighboring Muramba and Busanza sub-counties.
According to Ssekandi, the water crisis in Bunagana town council intensified after seasonal streams dried up due to the dry spell.
Ssekandi however says that the rebels are allowing civilians to cross to Congo to dig and open their businesses. He says the civilians spend the day in Congo and cross back to sleep on the Ugandan side at night.
Major Willy Ngoma, the M23 rebel spokesperson, says that they are not about to vacate Bunagana border and other neighboring areas under their control until the Kinshasha government addresses their demands. Ngoma says that their aim is to live in a country that does not support xenophobia and tribalism.
Congolese government led by President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo has frequently accused Rwanda of backing M23, a charge both the rebels and Rwanda have roundly denied.
Addressing journalists in Congo Wednesday, Julien Paluku, the Congolese Minister for Industry and the governor of the province of North Kivu, said that the DRC government must build its defense system so that Bunagana is quickly released and civilians who fled the clashes return to their homes.
Paluku believes that peace agreements are not enough to solve problems like that of the M23, but rather, they reflect the weakness of the States that resort to them.
“In my opinion, the peace agreements are the facts of the military weakness of the state. States that are militarily strong do not resort to peace agreements. It is an interpolation that I have always made since I was governor”, says Paluku.
Emmanuel Ngaruye Muhozi, the provincial deputy of Rutshuru territory says that the situation has lasted too long and a solution must be found as soon as possible. According to Ngaruye, several people are tortured and the displaced cannot carry out agriculture.
“Economically, there is nothing left. They’ve just been four months. All those who had cultivated did not even weed their crops. We recommend to the Head of State, to the government to know that if they have the right to sleep in their houses, the population of Jomba, Bweza, Kisigari, and Busanza also has the right to sleep in their houses peacefully. It is really a right of all Congolese,” said Ngaruye.