Great Lakes Quagmire...

Recently, General Laurent Nkunda was arrested by Rwandan forces in a shock move, after crossing the Rwandan border. Stability in the Eastern Congo especially in the provinces of North and South Kivu as well as Province Orientale, has long been circumspect, but will this move usher in a long-needed era of peace?

Currently, the rebel groups that have a presence in this area are the Democratic Forces of the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Rally for Unity and Democracy (RUD), Interahamwe, and former Rwandan soldiers. This ramshackle agglomeration of militias are political opportunists that have plagued civilians in the Great Lakes region for multiple reasons, whether resource related, self-determination, or grander schemes of conquest and liberation. Civilians have suffered at the hands of both rebel and government forces, through killings, rapes, displacement, and forced employment as child soldiers.

In a joint effort with the DRC military, Rwanda has deployed around 7,000 troops in the DRC. MONUC, the 17,000 strong UN Peacekeeping force, has also joined in the offensive and is providing logistics as well as rebel integration support.  This new offensive is supposed to flush them out of the region, to finally ensure that peace arrives. Other developments have seen Congolese, Ugandan, and Southern Sudanese troops in Operation “Lightning Thunder” attack the LRA in Garamba National Park. So it seems that military might is on full speed, to get rid of rebels once and for all, so that peace can come to the Great Lakes region.

Yet, I remain skeptical

History often repeats itself, and this looks like another worrying development for the citizens of this volatile region. Memories are still vivid from Africa’s “World War” and many hoped that the DRC would leave its history of conflict behind, but it seems like old wounds like to stay fresh. If this is a final push to bring about a new future for the DRC, or a continuation of violence, remains to be seen. 

Already, Major Kafa Bimanos who is a commander of the FDLR, said “they can come with their devil and with their superior power…the Rwandans who attack us will die”. In fact, the author Gerard Prunier has stated that this new joint Rwanda-Congolese force will not be able to defeat the militias. The militias can easily maneuver in the forests and regroup if scattered, similar to the tactics the LRA have used to resist the Ugandan army for over 20 years. If this war is protracted, what will be at cost are civilian lives, and one hopes that the right course of action is taken.

Will this military solution finally bring a semblance of peace to the Great Lakes Region? On paper it seems so, but not having an efficient diplomatic intervention could lead to problems rooted in the Rwandan genocide, rooted in economic grievances, and buried in unresolved separatist incentives which plagued Dag Hammerskoljd’s United Nations in the 1960’s to continue to persist. The question still remains, will peace ever come to this region?

 

Comments

[Solome]

hmmm...my skeptical friend does raise a very interesting but critical question. Can Africa continue to indulge in these military responses to crisis scenarios? Should African nations continue to use the same tactics in attempting to achieve peace on the continent? I wonder how far militarism can in fact achieve peaceful ends. If anything it sounds much like a contradictory then anything to me.

[dida]

I also am skeptical of a militaristic approach to solving this problem, especially if it is the only approach being taken. What is being done to address the underlying causes of the problem namely resources, arms trade, poverty? and who is addressing these problems? I'm not very knowledgeable about the history of this conflict, but I feel addressing the issue at its root is important.