DRC: in North Kivu, the arrival of the Ugandan army worries the inhabitants
Ugandan Major-General Kayanja Muhanga is overseeing operations in eastern DRC, here December 8, 2021. AFP - SEBASTIEN KITSA MUSAYI
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
In the east of the country, the Ugandan army has been gradually deploying its troops since the end of November.
On December 9, a common defense agreement was signed between the Congolese Minister of Defense and his Ugandan counterpart.
Objective: to track down the ADF, an armed group of Ugandan origin, which is rampant in the Beni region, in the northeast of the DRC.
In Goma, capital of North Kivu, the nationals relive bad memories after the years of occupation of the Ugandan army from 1997 to 2003.
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With our special correspondent in Goma,
Coralie Pierret
In the shadow of a bar in Goma, a customer scrutinizes the entrances and exits.
He grew up in Beni, the second city of the province of North Kivu, and remains until today marked by the Ugandan occupation at the end of the 90s: “
This is not the first time that the Ugandan army arrives in Beni.
I arrived in Beni when I was 10 years old.
They killed, they stole ... It is never forgotten.
"
A few streets away, Stewart Muhindo, activist of the citizen movement La Lucha, is also from the far North.
He was among those who have been calling since 2020 for external military support to be provided to the Congolese forces.
"
It is still quite difficult to understand that the same populations who were victims of the horrors of the Ugandan army are obliged to receive it as a savior,"
the activist is indignant.
There is the dismay of being killed every time, but there is also this fear that the facts that we have lived will return.
"
Information drop by drop
Today,
more than 1,500 Ugandan troops have crossed the border
.
But information is trickling down to Goma, deplores Louise Nyota, the vice-president of civil society in North Kivu: “
There is not a lot of information.
When we do the safety meeting, often we, the civil society, are not involved.
Here, now, we are waiting for the results ...
"
Since 2013, according to the Congolese episcopate, more than 6,000 people have been killed in the Beni region.
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DRC
Uganda
Defense