AFRICA/DR CONGO - Katanga in southern Congo victim of Mai-Mai militia: Catholic Bishops’ memorandum to President of Congo and United Nations Representative

Wednesday, 23 November 2005

Kinshasa (Fides Service)- In a memorandum addressed to the President of DR Congo and the local representative of the United Nations Organisation the Catholic Bishops of Katanga in south east DR Congo expressed concern for violent action on the part of Mai-Mai militia. The memorandum was signed by Archbishop Floribert Songasonga of Lubumbashi, Bishop Vincent de Paul Kwanga of Manono and Bishop Fulgence Muteba of Kilwa-Kasenga
The Bishops say that Mai-Mai militia enlisted and armed to defend the country after the war in 1998 are no longer necessary since the Global and Inclusive agreement and the reunification of the country was reached.
The phenomenon of Mai-Mai militia is complicated and the Bishops say “since there has been talk of transition there exist two categories of Mai-Mai in Katanga. The first consists of men who wander about cities and no longer obey officers orders. They put up barricades, harass the people and act as a parallel police force. This type of Mai-Mai is found mostly in the diocese of Kongolo. The second category consists of Mai-Mai groups which occupy parts of the province which escape control of the central government, particularly parts of the dioceses of Kalamie-Kirungu, Manono, Kilwa-Kasenga, Kamina and Lubumbashi.
The second category commit abominable violence against civilians. Eyewitnesses who survived speak of killings, houses torched, kidnappings, confiscation of goods, thefts, rapes etc … even cases of cannibalism.
This violence is causing a humanitarian disaster with thousands of war displaced people in Dubie and Mitwaba in the north of Kilwa-Kasenga diocese and in the north of Manono diocese. “These people have fled terror caused by one Mai-Mai chief Kyungu Kasongo alias Gedeon who sows devastation in Mitwaba, Manono, Dubie and Pweto” the Bishops say. Gédéon was responsible for the horrible death of Fr François Djikulo from Manono diocese and layman Simon Kayimbi (see Fides 21 November 2005). The two men set out to convince the Mai-Mai chief to disarm and stop violence against civilians and had been missing for 50 days until the two terribly mutilated bodies were discovered recently.
The Bishops of Katanga call on the government and the UN mission in DR Congo MONUC “to give serious consideration to the problem of Mai-Mai militia in Katanga and find a solution in the framework of the global process of transition”. Concretely the Bishops call for the disarmament, demobilisation and social reinsertion of Mai-Mai militia. They say national security forces must guarantee peace in territories which still escape their control so an electoral process involving the entire country can be started (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 23/11/2005 righe 44 parole 550)


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