Chez les rebelles

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​An M23 rebel stands overlooking the town of Bunagana, on the border with Uganda

When I last crossed the border from Kisoro to Bunagana, the Congolese authorities were in full bureaucratic swing, and battles raged further down the hill. The Congolese army (FARDC) were fighting the M23 rebels, whilst the United Nations swore to protect the town from falling.

Less than two months later, it is now M23 that control the border, and a relative calm exists in the half-emptied town. Men in uniforms identical to those of their FARDC counterparts walk through Bunagana, for the most part, defectors from the army. Though there are those wielding guns that are dressed in other uniforms, of unidentified origin.

Despite fears of an M23 march on Goma — for which defences have been heavily stepped up in recent weeks — Bishop Jean-Marie Runinga, the political coordinator for the group, says that they have no intention of heading there. He also strongly denies any Rwandan backing of the group, saying, rather incongruously, that if they did have Rwandan support then they would be in Goma by now.

On market-day, shops near to the border are bustling, with trucks being unloaded onto the roadside. At the other end of the town, an eery quiet reigns. Life is continues in Bunagana, but with close proximity to the Ugandan escape route. A border that many are still crossing come night-fall.

Some 20km away in the neighbouring Ugandan tourist-town of Kisoro, thousands fill the Nyakabande Transit Centre. Many have fled due to fears of M23 looting and recruitment, but those remaining in the rebel-held town are testament to the low incidence rate. One man tells me that the soldiers are well-behaved, just that they become a little rowdy at night.

The rebels seem well in control of the area, with none of the gunfire or shelling of my previous visit audible. Their ranks are growing with new defectors, and their confidence is increasing after recent military successes. Yet many of Bunagana’s remaining residents wonder how long the peace will last, and when war will return.

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​The "Bishop" Jean-Marie Runiga walks through the town of Bunagana, accompanied by M23 police

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Defending Goma

M23 rebels have increased the ground they hold in Rutshuru territory in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. From the hills of Runyonyi, where conflict raged last month, the rebels took Bunagana on Friday (July 6th) before moving down to Rutshuru Centre. They have now withdrawn from Rutshuru Centre and other towns they briefly held, but the risk of a march on Goma—the provincial capital—looms in the air.

The United Nations and Congolese army (FARDC) have deployed a dozen or so tanks in the stretch of land bordering the Virunga National Park between Goma and Kibumba, a small town some 25km from the city.

In Goma itself, peacekeepers have stepped up their “domination patrols” in an effort to reassure the population of their presence and commitment to keep the rebels far from the city. On the rim of a small, extinct volcano just at the edge of Goma’s wooden shacks, Indian peacekeepers are digging fox-holes for positions that will be “the last line of defence” before the city. “We have a clear view to the western flank” says the commanding officer there, gesturing towards the bush that extends to the base of the nearby Nyiragongo volcano. Below him as he talks, locals work on a patchwork of cultivated verdure, seemingly nonplussed by their new, foreign neighbours.

Last Wednesday (July 11th), Brigadier-General Harinder Singh (the UN brigade commander for North Kivu) met with General Lucien Bahuma who had arrived in Goma just the day before to command the FARDC’s 8th sector - the troubled North Kivu. Their strategy meeting was held on a hilltop overlooking UN tanks, just outside of Kibumba. Back in May, towards the end of the first ceasefire, thousands had fled Kibumba towards Goma when M23 first popped up on this side of the National Park. Coordination between the FARDC and M23 was the aim of the meeting, ensuring that no flanks were left open for the rebels to reach the city. Brig. Gen. Singh spoke of the need to learn from mistakes made in Bunagana when the rebels overran the strategic town on the Ugandan border. The UN seemingly weren’t sure who was FARDC and who was M23 after the government army strayed from their sector.

I couldn’t help but think back to May 19th, when Lieutenant-General Chander Prakash, the UN Force Commander for Congo, flew into Bunagana to the sound of heavy shelling and gunfire echoing out just down the hill, a few kilometres from the town. He stood in a patch of open ground, two Cheetah helicopters posed on the grass behind him, and addressed a crowd of local residents saying that the UN would absolutely not let Bunagana fall. Less than a month later, FARDC troops had fled across the border to Uganda, and one Indian peacekeeper had lost his life. M23 took control of the city.

The UN and FARDC launched helicopter strikes on M23 positions on Thursday and, reportedly, Friday, although the rebels claim they had little success. What it has provoked, though, is a letter sent by the new political wing of the group to the president of the UN Security Council in New York, asking if the UN has “changed its mandate to become an offensive and hostile force”, which they say would cause them to instruct their forces to put themselves in a defensive position against the UN contingents. “It is surprising that MONUSCO [the UN mission in Congo], considered as a neutral force for maintaining peace, chooses this moment to conduct an air-raid on the withdrawn and harmless positions of M23 further than 70km from the city of Goma.”

Overall, the chances of Goma falling are slim, and for now, few believe that M23 would march on the city. The rebels say that they have no intention to take Goma, although they would march on the city if attacks on Tutsis there continued. On Monday Rwandan students in Goma were escorted to the border for their protection with reports indicating that they had been attacked by an anti-Tutsi mob. Anti-Tutsi sentiment, however, does not seem obvious in the city.

The people of Goma seem unfazed by the armoured personnel carriers patrolling the streets and standing on intersections. If a fear of attack exists, it is not present in the throngs of people flocking to the markets and plying the rocky streets. Amidst the usual chaos of the city, a calm prevails here, despite the rebels occupying positions some 30km from Goma’s edge.

Changing roles of Masai women

In the Naibosho conservancy, on the edge of Kenya’s Maasai Mara, outreach programmes and entrepreneurial schemes organised through the conservancy are giving new opportunities to young Masai girls and women.

Lorna Kiu, now 15-years-old, comes from a traditional Masai farming family and says that when she was 10, her parents wanted her to get married which would also involve being circumcised. She refused, saying that she wanted to go to school. “I remember it was a need for me to learn.”

Nasirku Rakwa, 22, keeps her own goats. “Traditionally it is only the men who tend to the animals. Now you even get groups of women going out with the livestock” she says.

The outreach programme was established with local tourism partners from three nearby wildlife conservancies. At the Koiyaki Guiding School, young Masai men and women are learning the skills needed to work with tourists, from learning about the wildlife that surrounds them, to how to speak French. Whilst the dark green 4x4s of safaris seem out of place amongst the traditionally dressed Masai, it is the money that the tourism industry creates that goes back into these communities and funds such projects.

The schemes also protect wildlife. Grace Naisenya Ololchoki, an outreach programme coordinator, organises educational trips for women to go and see the conservancies. “Some of them have never seen a lion or elephant” she says. “They learn to live with predators and wild animals, to protect their wildlife.” Women also learn bee-keeping and dairy farming with goats, giving them greater economic independence.

See more on this Al Jazeera slideshow

Naibosho landscapes

Naibosho Conservancy, on the edge of the Maasai Mara in Kenya.