For decades, the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been a safe haven to more than 120 armed groups, creating an ongoing insecurity crisis in the region. To date, instead of fighting and disarming these militias, more are being created.

 

According to several reports, on April 12, in Kibumba, in Nyiragongo territory, fights between the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) and armed men believed to be part of a local armed group, were reported.

 

The perpetrators of these violations are members of a new militia called EPLC (La Force de l’Eveil Patriotique pour la Liberation du Congo), often calling themselves ’wazalendo’, loosely translated to "patriots or nationalists".

 

This group is reported to have established its camp in the Kibati general area, particularly in, Shaeru, Muja, and Mutaho. This area is closer to the Rwandan border and is in control of terrorist armed groups like FOCA/CRAP, Nyatura MPA, and APCLS.

 

A FARDC officer, Gen Bahati Mulombo Ndabundugu, who is former member of PARECO, an extremist Hutu militia operating in eastern DRC, leads the group. The main intent of EPLC is to fight the M23 and anyone they do not see as ‘Congolese,’ in this case the Tutsi whom they often call ‘Rwandans’.

 

While narrating to the media how the events of April 12 unfolded, a member of the group said they are vigilantes whose aim was to verify if the M23 had truly evacuated Kibumba, to which he says they still found the rebels and killed them. But the facts on the ground were different. The extremists killed 35 Congolese Tutsi civilians before they were repelled, and arrested by the regional force, unharmed.

 

Estimated to be made of more than 120 combatants, the EPLC, are civilians coming together to massacre their compatriots, whom they consider to not be Congolese, in their own words, ‘putting matters in their own hands’ and defending their country from the ‘enemy’.

 

But after all, these dangerous young men are only heeding the call of their President, and doing what he sent them to do. It comes to no one’s surprise that this attack is a clear evidence that the population are implementing Tshisekedi’s call.

 

In November 2022, addressing the nation, President Félix Tshisekedi rallied young Congolese to organize themselves into vigilance groups, to accompany and support the security forces in what he called a ‘hefty mission’.

 

The Congolese leader made the call in response to what he alleged was a Rwandan “aggression” – reference to claims that Kigali is militarily supporting the M23 rebel movement in DRC's east.

 

On top of all these attacks and camping near the border with Rwanda, which clearly poses a threat, one might expect Kinshasa to condemn these acts that not only violated the ceasefire, but also launched attacks against civilians and the regional force working hard to keep peace. Instead, they blamed the M23 rebels for the attacks, and white washed their crimes.

 

While addressing the media in Goma on April 17, DRC Government Spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya, said that the ‘real criteria’ of Wazalendo, are people who respect human rights and respect the laws of the country, and that whoever ignored this, would be treated as an enemy of the country.

 

The fact that this armed group was created by a FARDC General was not denounced by the DRC government either. Nor did they condemn his violent actions. This is more evidence that the group was created by Kinshasa with intent to merge them to the current FARDC-FDLR-MAI MAI coalition to fight the M23.

 

Additionally, it is a well-known fact that Tshisekedi has not been happy about EACRF deployment. On several occasions, government officials have accused the force of helping the M23 instead of fighting them. These renewed attacks only show that Kinshasa seeks to re-occupy these territories and violate the ceasefire, imposed by the Luanda agreements.

 

Tshisekedi is strategically taking advantage of the low deployment of the regional force in these areas.

 

He is sending the EPLC to fight the M23.

 

And his militia group is killing Congolese Tutsi civilians on the pretext of ‘fighting the enemy’.

 

Kinshasa’s lack of political will in solving these insecurity issues is obvious.

 

The moment one step in restoring peace is taken, Kinshasa makes five more steps behind and finds another way to disrupt any efforts made towards finding peace.

 

With less than eight months to the elections, Tshisekedi is convinced that wreaking more havoc in the east of the country, by forming new militias and causing chaos, will make it impossible to hold elections, effectively allowing him to stay in power without going through elections.

 

Tshisekedi has always known that he is unpopular and cannot win the elections. Having antagonized and alienated his predecessor, Joseph Kabila, who helped him steal the last election, Tshisekedi knows he is on his own and must therefore improvise.

 

Disrupting the upcoming election, Tshisekedi decided, was the only way out.

For Tshisekedi, the end will, surely, justify the means.

The problem, however, is: he is not so sure what tomorrow brings.

 

And, his urge to play with fire, especially after opting to cooperate with the genocidal militia that committed the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in neighboring Rwanda, is recipe for disaster.