Photo:  Late Ms. Emmerita Munyeshuri  

    Sources in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) tell AfroAmerica Network that  troops from the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) recently integrated within Congolese Government Armed Forces (FARDC) have started to defect to form a new armed rebellion.  According to the same sources,  the Rwandan Department of Military Intelligence suspect General Kayumba Nyamwasa to be behind the desertions.       

    The CDNP was headed by  the renegade Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda who is in jail in Rwanda. General Nkunda was funded and supported by the Rwanda Government in his

bloody armed rebellion against the DRC government over half a decade. He fell out with Rwanda when he dared to criticize Rwandan President General Paul Kagame, accusing him of using Congolese Tutsis to achieve his goals of looting the DRC. He was arrested in January 2009 while a guest of the Rwandan Government. He has been in jail awaiting

trial since then.

    He was replaced by his military deputy, General Jean Bosco Ntaganda, an accused war criminal who is under the arrest warranty from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Since that time, most of CNDP grudgingly integrated  the FARDC but challenged General Bosco Ntaganda's leadership. Some strong critics were assassinated by persons believed to be Rwandan Military Intelligence operatives and  General Ntaganda's hitmen. Those assassinated include the CNDP former Secretary General Denis Ntare Semadwinga, assassinated in Gisenyi, Rwanda on June 21, 2010, Commander Murekezi, Lt, Col. Antoine Balibuno, shot and killed on September 14,2010  and the former Tresorer Maman (Madam) Emerita Munyeshuli, assassinated in broad daylight in Goma on August 30, 2010.

    The recent defections are executed in small groups, from platoons to companies. The deserters are mostly coming from the Masisi territory,  especially from  Sake, Kirolirwe, and Kitchanga, General Nkunda's homeland, and heading to Rutshuru and Jomba near the Ugandan border. There, they are linking up with other CNDP troops who, since February 2009, have rejected General Bosco Ntaganda's leadership and the Rwandan influence.

    With the latest defections in droves, fears have mounted. A resumption of war appears imminent. The Rwandan Defense Forces Chief of Staff has convened an urgent

meeting with the FARDC Chief of Staff in Kigali over the week-end to coordinate how to handle the situation. If fact, Rwanda Government and Military fear that the troops have created alliances with Rwandan rebels.  Such an alliance between Colonel Nsengiyumba of CNDP, who leads around 200 men, and Rwandan rebels of  FDLR-Sadiki Soleil was documented recently by the MONUSCO and the UN Humanitarian agencies.

    Meanwhile, according to sources in Kigali, the Rwandan Government mostly fears that the CNDP may be rather joining a rebel group allegedly being created by  General Kayumba Nyamwasa and Colonel Patrick Karegeya. Rwandan intelligence services have also accused Ugandan Military of promoting, if not  funding and supporting the alliance.  General Kayumba Nyamwasa escaped multiple assassination attempts in South Africa earlier this year. The South African police has accused the Rwandan intelligence operatives to be behind the assassination attempts (see our articles on General Kayumba assassination attempts in our previous articles or by searching AfroAmerica Network)

    However, observers in Kinshasa, Kigali, and within MONUSCO tell AfroAmerica Network that a three-way alliance appears most likely: General Kayumba Nyamwasa's rebels, Rwandan Hutu rebels, and CNDP. There is also a possibility that an insurgency in Burundi may be in the making.  If the three or four-way alliance in created, it will likely be a force to reckon with. In fact, we may see Uganda, General Kayumba Nyamwasa's rebels,

Rwandan Hutu rebels,  CNDP, and Burundian Rebels soon pitted against Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF), FARDC, Burundian Defense FOrces (RDF), and General Bosco Ntaganda's CNDP faction.

If this happens, and this is highly likely, then peace in  African Great Lakes Region still has a long way to travel.

©AfroAmerica Network, 2010. All Rights Reserved