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POLITICS-DR CONGO: Exiled Soldiers Returning Home
By Juakali Kambale
KINSHASA, Nov 12, 2005 (IPS) - People on both sides of the Congo River are breathing sighs of relief following the repatriation of former soldiers back to Kinshasa. The combatants had spent eight years in exile in neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville.
The latest convoy of 200 servicemen arrived in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on Nov. 6.
According to a source at Armed Forces headquarters, another group of 500
exiled soldiers are in the process of being repatriated to north-western
Equator province from Congo-Brazzaville. They had been based in Impfondo,
north of the capital Brazzaville. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) are facilitating their return.
Kinshasa's view of the exiled soldiers in Brazzaville requesting
repatriation was originally that of deep distrust. According to political
analysts, the DRC government harboured fears that Congo-Brazzaville was
grooming them for an eventual attack on its giant neighbour.
The presence of the former soldiers at the port in Brazzaville was also
disruptive to commercial traffic along the river between the two capitals.
Brazzaville imports half its food from the other side of the river.
Before they were repatriated, the former soldiers brought the port to a
standstill by refusing to return to the refugee camps where they had lived
for eight years. Their determination seems to have paid off, as they were
repatriated in three boatlifts over the course of a week.
The governments of both countries collaborated on finding an urgent
solution to the crisis. A group of military experts from Kinshasa were in
Brazzaville last week trying to identify another group of servicemen wishing
to return home but who are mainly based around Pointe Noire,
Congo-Brazzaville's commercial hub. This group consist of about 300
servicemen, and their families.
According to analysts in Kinshasa, the DRC government is only too happy
to eliminate what had been thought of as a permanent threat on the opposite
bank of the Congo River. Such relief, perhaps, explained the presence Nov. 1
at the port of Kinshasa of defence minister Adolphe Onusumba as the first
boatload of military exiles disembarked.
"We welcome them as brothers in arms, just like we have with other
servicemen who belonged to different rebel groups and rejoined the national
army," Onusumba declared. "The war is over. We now need to create a new
restructured and integrated Congolese army in which all Congolese will feel
welcome."
Colonel Joseph Kasongo, who is in charge of communications at the general
headquarters of the Armed Forces of the DRC, said Kinshasa was planning to
repatriate other servicemen from other neighbouring capitals such as the
1,000 living in Bangui, in the Central African Republic (CAR), and the 300
in Luanda, in Angola.
At the moment, around 1,000 soldiers of the 2,000 living in Brazzaville
have been repatriated. Another group of about 200, wishing not to be known
as part of the former disbanded army, have opted to remain in Brazzaville.
"We remain a military body and will only negotiate our eventual return to
Kinshasa on this basis," said Colonel Dondo Gere of the former special
presidential division. This division constituted former president Mobutu
Sese Seko's personal guard. Essentially composed of members of his Nbgandi
ethnic group, it was the best armed and paid in the army but was also
accused of gross human rights abuses.
Alain Akoula, Congo-Brazzaville's spokesperson and Minister of
Communication, warned that his government would "expel any other group of
military exiles which attempted to poison relations between the two
countries with political pronouncements.''
The soldiers are happy to return to the land of their birth. The length
of their life in exile, their homesickness, and perhaps also the poor care
they received in exile conspired to help resolve the crisis. Captain
Ambroise Kusa made an emotional admission as he got off the boat.
"Life in exile is not good. We never acquired refugee status and we only
survived thanks to the innovative spirits of our spouses, who managed to
sell this and that to feed the children," Kusa told IPS. "I'm a soldier. I'm
happy to go back to my birthplace. I will continue to serve my country as a
serviceman. I do not know any other profession."
There was an atmosphere of joy and mixed emotions at the port in
Kinshasa. Some repatriated servicemen disembarked singing, others praying, a
woman with four children trailing, told IPS: "We never believed we would one
day be able to return home."
On the docks, many residents of Kinshasa in tears had also assembled to
witness the arrival of the exiles. Most of them were family members who were
seeing their brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces for the first time
since Sese Seko was overthrown in 1997.
All the repatriated soldiers donned civilian clothing and most were tired
from the two weeks they had spent living outdoors in Brazzaville's port.
With their foam mattresses, and a few kitchen utensils, they boarded a
National Mobilisation and Reintegration Commission (CONADER) bus for an
orientation centre set up for them in a southern suburb of Kinshasa.
They will have a week to decide whether to remain in the army or join
civilian life.
According to Colonel Aime Mbiato, the coordinator of the Military
Integration Agency, who is in charge of reforming the Congolese army, the
arrival of the exiles from Brazzaville comes at a good time since the DRC
Armed Forces are in the midst of restructuring.
"Most opted for the army and will be sent to a training centre for 45
days. They will have a chance there to acclimatise themselves to the country
and to familiarise themselves with other soldiers from other backgrounds,"
Mbiato told IPS.
As for those who chose civilian life, CONADER will look after their
resettlement and reintegration. They have received 110 dollars each to
return to their native region as well as a kit which includes clothing,
agricultural tools, and kitchen utensils.
At the moment, soldiers who chose to return to civilian life do not have
difficulty reintegrating themselves into society. Members of their families
living in Kinshasa have agreed to accommodate the women and children.
Most of the exiles are natives of Equator province. "Our province is
essentially agricultural. I'll buy hoes and will easily find some land to
farm," Jean Ngatwa, a former army lieutenant, told IPS.
Another former soldier, Igor Engulu, is less optimistic. He wonders if
his village, near the town of Bumba in Equator province along the Congo
River, still exists. "From Brazzaville, I learned that my village was bombed
by the soldiers of the AFDL (Alliance of Democratic Forces for the
Liberation of Congo of the late Laurent-Desire Kabila who toppled Sese Seko
in 1997),'' he said, hopelessly.
Engulu said he would look for a business partner to start life as a
fisherman. (END)
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