My views on way forward for MONUSCO

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OPINION

By Opiyo Oloya

Dear Secretary-General António Guterres, no doubt, you have been thoroughly briefed by officials of the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) following the recent horrific massacre and atrocities committed by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the town of Komanda in which 43 people were murdered, including nine children.

Sadly, MONUSCO forces located just a kilometre from the site of the massacre did not respond. But rather than confront head-on its own failures and ineffectiveness in keeping the people of Congo safe, as usual, through its spokesperson Jean Tobie Okala, speaking on Radio Peace FM Bunia, MONUSCO sought to shift the blame elsewhere. Okala blamed the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) for having “badly planned” the July 6, 2025, co-ordinated offensives targeting the ADF base in Apakwang in Ituri, which housed between 1,000 and 1,500 fighters and dependents.

According to Okala, the UPDF failed to close off all exits to prevent the ADF terrorists from escaping. For someone whose resume includes claims of working in the DRC for two decades, Okala was either wilfully ignorant of what he was talking about, or he was being recklessly dishonest. Any six-year-old Congolese child could have told him that Congo is blessed with huge forests and jungles spanning thousands of square kilometres.

However meticulous or big, no amount of military planning could possibly seal off the entire Congo jungle in which the ADF operates! An honest and sensitive explanation from MONUSCO should have started with deepest apologies to the victims and the Congolese people for the failure of the UN troops to respond to the unfolding catastrophe.

The forces must surely have been alerted to what was going on, yet did nothing until well after the terrorists had melted back into the vast jungle. Helping to bury the dead is not a consolation for those who lost loved ones in the slaughter.

A day after the massacre, as part of my research into conflicts, wars and peacekeeping, I spent two days visiting towns in North Kivu and Ituri.

These were areas previously terrorised by ADF but now experiencing peace and normalcy thanks to the collaboration between Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) and the UPDF. What I saw, heard and experienced while speaking and interacting with Congolese communities of Lume, Bulongo, Tumbula, Beni, Mbau, Oicha, Kokola, Eringite and Luna, where I spent the night, painted a sharply disturbing picture of chronic failure, mismanagement and miserable ineffectiveness of MONUSCO to protect the people of eastern Congo.

Speaking in Kiswahili and Lingala, residents of Bulongo narrated how they lived in constant fear of ADF attacks prior to the arrival of the UPDF.

There was a sense of paralysis in the community. Few dared to sneak into their gardens to scratch the land to grow food. The ADF routinely intercepted and burned cars along the road to Beni and beyond. One resident originally from Butembo town to the southwest recalled that the massacre at Komanda happened on the third anniversary, when angry folks chased MONUSCO out of her town on July 25, 2022.

The incident claimed the lives of three MONUSCO personnel and seven civilians. Her sentiments were echoed by residents of the various towns I visited. At Eringite, coincidentally, as a community member spoke about the growing frustration with the ineffectiveness of the UN peacekeeping forces, a convoy of more than a dozen MONUSCO vehicles painted white with the distinctive UN in black letters rambled along the road, causing jeers.

By contrast, every single Congolese I spoke with along the corridor patrolled by the UPDF and FARDC spoke candidly about how everything changed for the better when the Ba-Uganda (as they refer to UPDF troops) came into their towns. They spoke of the discipline and respect demonstrated daily by UPDF soldiers for civilians.

They spoke about the care and love they felt for the Ugandan soldiers who were invariably kind to them. Many expressed that their livelihood, security and safety had improved vastly. They could now attend to their gardens at any time of day to cultivate the land and plant crops, including the much sought-after cocoa.

Today, they travel along the road without being stopped at roadblocks where those manning them once demanded cash and other payments at the point of death. Children dressed in neat school uniforms are attending school.

A simple gesture that perfectly captured for me the deep reciprocal trust between Congolese communities and UPDF troops happened in Bulongo town.

A group of Congolese women seated at a roadside kiosk enjoying ugali and shombe vegetables using their hands as utensils, happily invited a one-star general of the UPDF to eat with them from the same dish. Without batting an eyelid, the general washed his hands and joined the women. It was a small thing, but for me it was a demonstration of the special bond the residents have with UPDF troops who have done so much within the short time they have been in DRC. But beyond the anecdotes, the facts, most of them compiled by UN staff, speak for themselves and should have long ago required the UN to review the mandate or scrap MONUSCO altogether.

Since transitioning from MONUC on July 1, 2010, MONUSCO has sustained the eye-popping annual budget totalling more than $1b.

According to UN Security Council Resolution 2765 (2024), which extends MONUSCO’s mandate through December 20, 2025, the mission is supported by 11,500 military personnel, 600 military observers and staff officers, 443 police officers and 1,270 formed police unit personnel. The blue-helmeted troops enjoy unparalleled comfort while doing minimal work of protecting Congolese civilians.

Yet, despite the robust resources and military hardware, including well-equipped Ukrainian Mi-24 attack helicopters, Aerospatiale SA-330 Pumas, BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, WZ-551 armoured personnel carriers, UAV and drones and satellite-based imagery and UNOSAT support at its disposal, not to mention troops drawn from different nationalities, MONUSCO is either unable or unwilling to confront the ADF and other terrorists ravaging the Congolese countryside.

You undoubtedly recall some of the instances of failure of the UN force. On December 7, 2017, sadly, ADF fighters attacked the MONUSCO base at Semuliki in Beni Territory, killing 15 Tanzanian peacekeepers and wounding 53. According to an independent UN-requested assessment for the period covering October 30-December 31, 2019 alone, over 260 civilians — mostly women and children — were brutally killed in a spate of ADF attacks, often at night, which occurred despite MONUSCO being present in the area.

On December 31, 2020, over 30 civilians were murdered near Tingwe village in Kivu. Survivors reported that local authorities and MONUSCO were alerted, but no protective action was taken in time. Instead, numerous UPDF personnel expressed concerns that MONUSCO often uses its drones and UAVs for surveillance against Ugandan troops.

Moreover, these surveillance aircraft were a dead giveaway, alerting ADF terrorists that UPDF troops were closing in, allowing them to escape deeper into the vast forest. By contrast, on November 30, 2021, the UPDF launched Operation Shujaa on a minuscule budget of sh64.5b ($17m), and a little fewer than 2,000 troops that collaborated with FARDC to neutralise ADF inside the DRC.

By early 2025, planning documents indicated sh41.2b was required for the operation, but only sh26.3b was allocated ($7m), showing underfunding compared to the whale of funding for MONUSCO. Yet since its inception, and as of late 2024 to early 2025, the UPDF and FARDC have neutralised 548 ADF fighters, captured 50 and received 31 surrenders.

The Uganda forces also reported killing senior ADF commanders, destroying their camps and freeing hundreds of hostages. And as noted above, schools, markets and farming have resumed in the areas.

A footnote to these successes happened on June 6, 2023, when a MONUSCO convoy comprising two dozen armoured vehicles carrying mostly Uruguayan troops en route to Goma was denied passage by M23 fighters.

Stranded and at serious risk of armed confrontation, the UN force sought the help of a small UPDF force in six armoured personnel carriers, which successfully escorted the bigger UN forces out of harm’s way.

Obviously, the UPDF is not holding its breath waiting for a thank-you note from MONUSCO.

Here, then, are my recommendations for the way forward. Foremost, MONUSCO should review its current posture of merely patrolling from the safety of main roads and urban centres instead of going after the ADF wherever the terrorists are hiding.

Secondly, the need is urgent for a more effective and close collaboration between MONUSCO, FARDC and the UPDF.

By combining resources, intelligence and planning, the three forces will strike hard at ADF to degrade its potency to attack civilian populations with impunity.

Finally, I acknowledge that MONUSCO has done some good work refurbishing primary schools and health clinics for civilians in some areas of eastern DRC. But in Luna, while out for an early morning walk, I was deeply distressed to see school-age children sitting at home or accompanying adults to the garden instead of going to school.

I encourage the UN force to quadruple its efforts in building more schools and supporting more town-level health clinics. These quick impact projects (QIPs) are fundamental to winning the hearts and minds of civilians.

MONUSCO can make a real difference in the lives of these children instead of feeble, inconsequential and symbolic actions.

Opiyo.oloya@gmail.com Twitter: @Opiyooloya

Dr Opiyo Oloya is the Inaugural Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at Western University, London, Ontario, Canada