Monday, February 17, 2003
Fears of War in Bunia Town
By ARTHUR ASIIMWE
IN BUNIA, DRC
THERE ARE fears that fighting might break out in the eastern DRC town of Bunia following a sharp increase in tension between the forces of a Congolese rebel faction and the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF).
Sources in Bunia say relations between the UPDF and the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) soured after the latter signed a co-operation treaty with the Rwandan backed rebel group, RCD-Goma, two months ago and demanded the immediate withdrawal of Ugandan troops.
The demand by the UPC, which was once supported by Uganda, was followed by a voting exercise to determine if the UPDF was still needed in the area. The exercise was carried out in the presence of senior UPDF officers including President Yoweri Museveni's brother, Major General Salim Saleh and the Chief of Military Intelligence, Colonel Nobel Mayombo, and is reported to have further fuelled the acrimony between the two sides.
UPDF spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza told The EastAfrican that when the rebel group failed to secure the immediate withdrawal of Ugandan troops from Bunia they started stampeding everybody, creating tension in the process.: "UPC wanted us out of Bunia immediately but we are there under the mandate of both the UN and the Kinshasa government."
He added that if the UPDF were to leave Bunia as the UPC had demanded, it would be failing to fulfil its mandate to take control of the town and stop ethnic clashes.
Bunia, in Ituri province, has been the scene of tribal clashes between the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups, which have left thousands dead and many more displaced. UN investigators recently issued corroborative reports of cannibalism, looting, systematic rape, summary executions and kidnappings in the remote and densely forested area of the province inhabited by pygmies.
Humanitarian agencies and the local population now fear an outbreak of war between the UPDF and UPC forces following a build up of troops in and around Bunia town in recent weeks.
A humanitarian worker told The EastAfrican in Bunia last week: "There has been what looks like a reinforcement of UPDF troops here. We fear that fighting could break out any time."
The Ugandan forces are deployed in Bunia and reinforced by more troops from former outlying UPDF positions like Kasenyi, 50km south of Bunia and Nizi in the north.
UN officials estimate UPDF strength has shot beyond the original one battalion that had been left in the area following their withdrawal from several other parts of eastern DRC last year.
However, a UPDF commander downplayed the figures, saying they still maintained "one big battalion."
"We brought our forces here because we were preparing to go home. You can ask our government why we delayed our return," said Captain Eddie Muwonge, acting commander of UPDF in Bunia.
The local population is also scared that war fighting could erupt and some are already fleeing the area.
"We are seeing Ugandans digging trenches and this means war," said Manuela Kikamba, a 38 old businesswoman in Bunia. "We are tired of war. Why can't we be given peace?" she said.
About 22,500 families in Bunia are currently displaced by continued fighting between ethnic militia groups and different rebel groups.
Jean Bosco Ndichu, a local resident, said: "We feel threatened by this massive deployment, we think war is coming."
For the past four years, the eastern DRC has been a theatre of a bloody conflict, which drew in armies from Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola and Burundi. More than two million people are estimated to have died directly or indirectly during the fighting and the ensuing displacement.
The co-ordinator of a foreign humanitarian agency in Bunia said: "The co-operation treaty between the UPC and RCD may increase Rwandan influence on this side. This could be interpreted by Uganda as a threat to its security."
He confirmed reports of the presence of Rwanda military commanders in Irumi, west of Bunia town, Mogwalo and Fatak north of Bunia, whom he said were giving assistance to UPC forces.
However, other sources said tensions had cooled down following a meeting last week, between top Ugandan government officials and Thomas Lubanga, the president of UPC.
"Our relations with the UPDF have been up and down," Lubanga told The EastAfrican in Bunia.
He accused the UPDF of trying to reignite the Lendu-Hema clashes by "training and arming the Lendu to fight the Hema."
UPC, a break away faction of Mbusa Nyamwisi's RCD-ML is dominated by the Hema people.
Lubanga denied receiving any assistance from Rwandan forces. "It is not in our interest for the Rwandan troops to return," he said.
Rwanda has repeatedly said that it has withdrawn all its troops from the DRC.
Additional reporting by Vincent Mayanja and Henry Lubega.
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