DRC: one of the founders of the ADF rebel group arrested in South Kivu

FARDC soldier on patrol in the highlands of South Kivu, in October 2020 (illustrative image).

RFI / Sonia Rolley

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Benjamin Kisokeranio, one of the founders of the Ugandan rebel group ADF, was arrested on Tuesday January 11 in Uvira, in the province of South Kivu.

The information was first given by the Ugandan army and then confirmed by several Congolese military sources under anonymity.

Former member of the armed group, Benjamin Kisokeranio was in charge of intelligence, finance and supplies, according to several sources.

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Kinshasa,

Mustache well drawn, serene gaze, no particular distinctive sign: the photo of this man taken in an office of the Directorate General of Migration (DGM) circulated on social networks.

According to our information, he was arrested while trying to cross under a false identity the border post which separates Uvira in the DRC from Bujumbura in Burundi. 

For the Ugandan army, it is indeed Benjamin Kisokeranio, but on the Congolese side, the army spokesman in the region interviewed by RFI is very cautious. 

The exact role of Benjamin Kisokeranio in the ADF movement remains unclear.

However, according to the Kivu Security Barometer, a joint project of the Congo Study Group and Human Rights Watch, it was still active, particularly in the south of Beni territory around Mwalika. 

Very close to the former leader of the movement Jamil Mukulu, currently under arrest, Benjamin Kisokeranio was at the head of a minority faction which can be considered as dissident of the ADF.

He was among those who opposed allegiance to the Islamic State group declared in 2019.

With his background and his knowledge of the field, he could in any case hold very useful information for the Ugandan-Congolese coalition which is fighting against the ADF in eastern Congo.

►

Newsletter

Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Mozambique