Mr President, the killings in DRC are likely to spill over into Uganda

Stories of mass killings in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been widely reported. However, these killings don’t seem to have attracted the level of international attention they deserve.
 The killings, which began on the other side of River Semuliki, have now come as nearer home (Uganda) as Masamba, Rugetsi, Kotongo, Mutwanga, Lhume. Although River Semuliki is inside the DRC, it forms the historical border between Kitara (Uganda) and Isale (DRC). So, among the Bakonzo (of Uganda), any insecurity this side of the River Semuliki is perceived to be striking home (Uganda). 

Congolese families have emptied into Uganda in unrecorded refugee influx; thereby complicating social safety-net dynamics among our people. That’s why the President of Uganda needs to know what is taking place in Masamba, Lhume, Mutwanda, Rugetsi, Bulongo and Kotongo. Mr President, these areas are too near Uganda; and the killings in these areas could easily turn into a security nightmare for Uganda.

 Who are killing our people in DR Congo? The truth is I am not supposed (and expected) to know. But even if I were to know, I am not qualified to even carry the sandals of those to whom it is formally assigned to tell the President about the depth of those killings (and the implications for Uganda’s security and territorial integrity).
 
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On Tuesday April 20, a convoy of vehicles heading to the Uganda-DRC border attracted the attention of Kiburara residents. Our information is that the convoy was carrying Congolese dignitaries returning from Kampala (where they had gone to interface with Uganda’s security authorities). Their mission: seeking assistance in their fight against an enemy ‘they still assume’ is the well-known ADF rebels.

 Since we are not part of the government information gathering system, we don’t know whether the assistance was given or even promised. But what we know is that sometime before the interface with the Congolese, the President met ambassadors from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council; they of droit de veto. It is ‘rumoured’ that the President shared with the ambassadors a gallery of photos capturing the gruesome mass killings taking place in the eastern DR Congo.

 Our information is that our intelligence agencies are doing a very good job on DRC with someone at the level of a UPDF colonel at the head of the intel op. So, the President is well-furnished with what is taking place in eastern DRC. But it seems information given to the President lacks projections. Mr President Sir, what we are dealing with in eastern DRC is ISIS. And our projection is that we could soon be headed for something similar to what recently took place in Mozambique. So, whereas the killings should concern us from a moral standpoint, what should concern us even more is the identity of the killers and what they are capable of doing.

 Matters are not helped by the political dynamics in Kinshasa. President Tshisekedi is now more concerned with the 2023 elections than anything else. Without a heavy leaning from the international community, the killings (mass or otherwise) in some outpost in the east are likely not to get reasonable attention from Kinshasa.

 The Congolese don’t want foreign boots on their soil (naturally, most state actors don’t). In any case, counter-insurgency operations are driven by actionable intelligence; not boots and materiels. The President of Uganda should prioritise this as a foreign policy matter.
 Mr President, the mass killings in east DRC are a serious matter for Uganda’s security. They are ‘too’ near to Uganda for our comfort; and given the identity of the killers, anything could happen.

Mr Bisiika is the executive editor of the East African Flagpost. [email protected]