The M23 leader whose career draws restlessness in Rwanda and DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo is in restlessness – fighters from the infamous rebel group M23 pass through the east of the country, fighting against the national army and capturing key places as they go.

In just two weeks, thousands of people are said to have been killed, and the fighting caused an ominous war of words between Dr. Kong and his neighbor, Rwanda.

So how did Dr. Congo – the largest country in Subsaharian Africa?

The origin of this complex conflict can be understood through the story of one man – M23 leader Sultani Makeng, who is the subject of various charges of war crime.

Return to the Maken’s life so far means to study the decades of war, occasional side of the intervention and the permanent bait of rich mineral resources of Dr. Cong.

His life began on Christmas Day in 1973, when he was born in the lush Congoic city of Masisi.

Raised by the parents of the Tutsi ethnic group, Makenga left school at the age of 17 to join the clothing of the Tutsi rebels across the border in Rwanda.

This group, called the Patriotic Front of Rwanda (RPF), demanded a greater representation of Tutsi in the Government of Rwanda, which was dominated by politicians from most Hutu at the time.

They also wanted hundreds and thousands of refugees of Tutsia who were forced by ethnic violence from the country so that they could return home.

Four years, Makenga and RPF fought against the army dominated by Hutu in Rwanda. Their battle was preoccupied 1994. GenocideWhen Hutu extremists killed 800,000 Tuts and moderate huts.

When you look back to this time ua Rare interview from 2013Makenga stated, “My life is war, my education is a war, and my language is war … but I respect peace.”

RPF gradually seized more and more land before heading to the capital of Rwanda, Kigali, and overturned the extremist government of Hutu – many of which fled to what Dr. Congo was now.

With RPF in power, Makenga was absorbed into the official army of Rwand and stood up to the rank of sergeant and deputy commander of the Water.

“He was very good at setting up ambush,” said one of Makeng’s colleagues RPF fighter Rift Valley Institute Non -profit research organization.

His progress in the army in Rwanda hit the ceiling. The fact that he had only elementary education and spoke broken French and English was “an obstacle to his military career,” said Rift Valley Institute.

Makenga is also said – to this day – to be very reserved and fight with public speech.

In 1997, he was part of the forces supported in Rwanda, which eventually seized power in Dr. Congo, overthrowing the long -standing ruler of the Mobut of Sesea Seka. In his place they placed the leader of the Congole veteran, Laurent Kabila.

However, Makenga began to clash with her superiors – he was arrested by the Rwandam authorities after refusing to return to Rwand UN Security Council report said.

Therefore, he was closed on Iwaw Island for several years.

Meanwhile, the relationship between new cable leaders and Rwanda worsened.

Rwanda sought to overthrow the Hutu militia who were responsible for the genocide, but fled across the border in 1994. The fear of Rwanda was that I could return and upset the hard stability of the country.

But Kabila failed to prevent the militants from being organized, and he also began to force the troops of Rwanda.

As a result, Rwanda attacked Dr. Congo in 1998. When Makenga was released from prison, he was appointed to perform the duty of the commander on the front line with the rebel group supported in Rwanda.

Over the years, he gained a reputation of a very strategic and skilled in commanding large groups of soldiers in battle.

After the troops of Rwanda transferred to Dr. Congo, there was an increase in the discrimination of the Tuts Community. Kabila claimed that Tutsis supported the invasion, while other officials encouraged the public to attack members of the ethnic group.

Makenga – still in Dr. Congo – accused the Congole leader of issuing the Tutsi fighters, saying, “Kabila was a politician, and I am not. I am a soldier, and the language I know is a gun.”

Several neighboring countries have been drawn into the conflict and a large UN military force has been deployed to try to keep their order.

More than five million people are believed to have died in war and its consequence – mostly from hunger or illness.

The fighting officially ended in 2003, but Makenga continued to serve in armed groups opposed to the Congenian Government.

In the spirit of reconciliation, the Tuts rebels like Makeng were eventually united in the Congolian Government’s armed forces, in the process called “Miss”.

But political sands in Dr. Congo ever change – Makenga was eventually rejected from the army to join the rise of the M23 rebellion.

M23 became increasingly active in the East Dr. Kong, stating that they were fighting for the protection of Tutsi rights and that the government did not honor the peace agreement signed in 2009.

Makenga was raised to the rank of General M23 and then shortly after, the upper position.

In November 2012, he led the rebels in a brutal uprising, in which they captured the city of Gom, a large east city with more than one million inhabitants.

Dr. Congo and UN accused Rwanda, dominated by Tutsi, supporting the M23 – the allegation that Kigali persistently denied. But recently, the official response moved, and the Government spokesperson said the fight near its border was a security threat.

Until 2012, Makenga and others in M23 have faced serious war crimes charges. Now his sanctions have been imposed on him, saying that he is responsible for “employment of children’s soldiers and the campaign of violence against civilians.” Makenga said the accusations that the M23 had been used by children’s soldiers were “unfounded”.

Otherwise, the UN said that he had committed and was responsible for acts such as murder and mutilation, sexual violence and abduction.

With the freezing of the property, Makenga faced bitterly divided within M23. One side supported him as a leader while the other supported her rival, Gene Bosco ntaganda.

A sufficient projectA non -profit group that worked in Dr. Congo said that the two factions in 2013 lowered into the “full -fledged war” and, as a result, died three soldiers and eight civilians.

Makenga triumphed, and General Ntaganda fled in Rwanda, where he surrendered to the US Embassy.

Nickname “Terminator” because of his ruthlessness, the Gen Ntaganda was In the end, the International Criminal Court (ICC) sentenced him to 30 years for war crimes.

However, months after the Makent’s triumph, a different threat appeared. The UN has arranged a power of 3,000 people with a term of office to support the Congolian army on the return of Gom, which prompted the M23 to withdraw.

The rebel group was expelled from the country and Makenga fled to Uganda, a country that was also accused of supporting the M23 – an allegation that denies.

Uganda received a request for extradition for Makeng from Dr. Kong, but did not act on him.

It’s been eight years. Dozens of other armed groups wandered in the east of minerals, devastating, but congenonial authorities were released from the most famous militants.

That is, until 2021.

Makenga and his rebels took the weapons again, capturing the territory in the province of Northern Kiva.

Several interruptions between the M23 and the Congoon authorities failed, and last year the judge dared make a makeng in his absence.

During the last progress of the M23, in which the rebels say they are supported by the thousands of Rwanda torso, Makenga has been barely seen in public.

Instead, the spokesman leaves public speeches and statements and Corneille Nanga, who runs the Union of rebel groups, including M23.

But Makenga remains a key player, it seems to focus on the strategy behind the scenes.

He said his relentless struggle was for his three children, “so one day he would have a better future in this country.”

“I should not take myself as a man who does not want peace. I have a heart, family and people I care about,” he said.

But millions of ordinary people pay the price of this conflict and if it has been captured by Congolian forces, Makenga is facing a mortal punishment.

Yes, he’s unwavering.

“I’m ready to sacrifice everything,” he said.