Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Fides News Agency) – A population caught between a rock and a hard place. This is how the inhabitants of the Lemera highlands/ Ruzizi plain, in South Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, live, subjected to violence and abuses by rival groups that exhibit similar behavior toward the civilian population.
On one side are the M23 military, supported by Rwandan forces; on the other, the Wazalendo militia, which emerged as self-defense groups in support of the regular Congolese army to halt the M23's advance, but which over time have also become a source of insecurity for the very communities they claim to protect.
The latest report by ACMEJ (Association contre le Mal et pour l’encadrement de la Jeunesse), a local human rights NGO, states that “the security situation is becoming catastrophic in the villages of Nyamutiri, Kibungu, Ndolera, Businga, and Kibanga, in the Lemera highlands/Ruzizi plain.” According to the document, sent to Fides News Agency, “there is a complete absence of political, administrative, and traditional authority, as is the case in much of the Lemera highlands.” The report adds that, while in “a small part of Lemera territory some soldiers from the M23 and their allies exert control, in most of the area power is in the hands of armed youths belonging to the Wazalendo.” Some of these fighters have reportedly broken away from the original movement, giving rise to armed gangs that extort the local population. According to the report, “according to concurring sources among local leaders and analysts, the defection of some young members of the Wazalendo is a further cause for concern in several villages in the central Lemera region. Various cases of abuse and human rights violations recorded in the mountainous and central areas could be attributed to this group of deserters.”
The insecurity has even led to the resurgence of new forms of local self-defense. “In some villages in the central Lemera region, armed youths have reorganized community protection structures with the aim of defending residents against nighttime attacks by unknown armed and masked individuals.”
According to the ACMEJ, the insecurity caused by Wazalendo deserters is welcomed by the M23 guerrillas. The report states that M23 soldiers and their Rwandan allies in areas such as Rbanga, Lemera, and Mulenge “have become mere observers of these acts of banditry, thinking: ‘Let them kill each other among their own brothers and parents; we’re still here, and as long as they don’t attack us, there’s no problem, we’ll continue to control the situation by dividing them.’” (L.M.) (Fides News Agency, 21/4/2026)
