Why are the Hema and Lendu fighting?

By Gawaya Tegulle in Eastern Congo Bunia in eastern Congo is a small, dusty and windswept excuse of a town whose traffic policemen dress like waiters in a village restaurant and where theft and robbery are unheard of. But when the conversation turns to genocide and violent death, residents here will quickly join in and talk for hours on end. No surprise there; they have seen it all before. For nearly 100 years, two of the biggest tribes in the area, the Hema and Lendu have nursed bitter grudges that regularly explode into bitter bloody battles as each tribe tries to wipe out the other. The clashes suggest that in the Congo there always seems to be room for more trouble whenever it shows up. The conflict, locals say, began with the hunting habits of former Omukama of Bunyoro, Kabalega. His kingdom once extended to Ituri province in present-day Congo, which was a rich hunting ground, by virtue of the sparse population and thick forests. Once a year, Kabalega went on a huge hunting spree, with a thousands-strong entourage. After a few years, about late 1800s or early 1900s some of his people decided it would not make sense for the Omukama to move to and from with a huge entourage. They requested that they be allowed to stay in the hunting area, grazing their animals, while keeping the place till the Omukama came next. With Kabalega's permission a cross-section of the Banyoro pastoralists moved to Congo, and became known as the Hema. They found the Lendu, who are believed to have migrated earlier from Sudan already settled in the higher places with rich soils suited for their cultivation lifestyle. The Lendu were generous and gave the Hema some of their land to graze. But as the populations of man and animals grew, the land became smaller. The Hema were nomadic, a habit that caused problems since they needed a lot of space for grazing. Their cattle often strayed into Lendu gardens, eating up the crops. That was the beginning of conflict. The first major battle is reported to have taken place about 1911 in Bunyagwa. Fertile portions of land were fiercely fought over. The Hema would occupy a portion of land for sometime, then they would be driven out, only to return three or four years later, fight and win it again - for the next two or three years. The battles took on a new turn when the gap between the two tribes grew wider. With cattle, the Hema soon became far richer than their Lendu counterparts. They acquired more real estate, good education and travelled world-wide. Today it is easy to tell the difference. The Hema are generally tall and long-nosed, educated and wealthy looking. The Lendu are basically short, stout, shabby and illiterate. Most Lendu are typical peasants: Go to bed early, are more prolific than rabbits, know nothing beyond their region and only leave home to fight. With their immense wealth the Hema apparently found it hard to be humble. They saw no reason why a people as poor as the Lendu should have the audacity to compete with them over land. They then started ridiculing the Lendu as illiterate poor fellows who should respect the rich and educated. But many Lendu claim that in addition, the Hema made deliberate attempts to keep the Lendu poor. "These Hema don't want anybody else to be successful," says Clement Ndruudjo, a Lendu who was evacuated from Kasenyi by the UPDF to save him from marauding Hema bands. "If they see an educated Lendu, that is bad for them. They kill him. If you succeed in business they kill you and your business. If they see you rise up, they will look for ways to finish you. They do not even want to see us in good government jobs. "Even when we don't want war, they insult us to provoke war," says Simo Buda, another refugee. "They tell us we are uncivilised and not real men. They taunt us saying they will sleep with our wives and sisters and daughters. They have come and destroyed our houses. We run elsewhere, they follow us and do the same thing. So what do we do? Fight!" "These Hema came here and our forefathers welcomed them and gave them land. But they are ungrateful and want to throw us out. "Whenever we went to government, they would tell us to go home, they would look into the mater later, they said. So we got tired and said if government would not help us, we would handle the matter ourselves," says Ndruudjo. They have indeed handled the matter themselves - in a most brutal manner. The people have already been mobilised by historical bitterness. All they need is something - anything to spark off a fight, and they will join in eagerly and with a kill-and-destroy vengeance. A simple fight between two opposites often yields a tribal clash, as more numbers line up on each side. "We live in tension here," says a medical doctor in Bunia. "Each fresh war is caused by adding a few drops of water to a glass already full, causing a spill over." In June 1999, conflicts intensified yielding the greatest bloodshed ever. It began in Djugu region when a group of Hema ordered some 10 Lendu families off a 10-hectare piece of land, claiming they had concession from government. The Lendu retorted that if that was true, the Hema achieved it through bribery. They added that this was the land of their forefathers and they would not quit. A small fight began, and more people joined in on either side. The Lendu, better-armed and well-organised, took the upper hand and suddenly it appeared the Hemas were in danger of annihilation. The UPDF intervened to quell the fighting and save the Hema, but the Lendu interpreted this as a plot by UPDF to wipe them out. When other Lendu in areas like Lita, Drodro, Linga, Jiba and Pitso heard that the Hema and UPDF were "killing their brothers," they turned on the Hema around them and began systematically wipe them out. There were some peace talks or efforts at it. Adele Lostove, then Ituri provincial governor, called for talks in Bunia, but the talks were unrepresentative because they targetted the chiefs and not the people. As a result, even though the leaders agreed to cease hostilities, the people in the villages continued fighting. Aid agencies believe up to more than 10,000 people, mostly Hema, died between June and November 1999. Homes, health centres and schools were burned down and more than 120,000 people were left homeless, most ending up in refugee camps. The Hema fled north of Djugu, while the Lendu fled south. Soon the Hema turned their wrath to the aid agencies - Red Cross, Medicines sans frontiers, Oxfam, Almond, Coopi and Agro-Action, accusing them of taking aid to "genocide perpetrators". Some vehicles were destroyed. Between February and November 2000, there was some peace, after the army and political leaders restored calm through talks and cajoling. Fact File: lConflicts started about 100 years ago between Hema pastoralists and Lendu cultivators. l Originally a clash over land use, then over racial superiority. Recently political. l This has been the bloodiest war and is the first time guns are being used. l The Lendu are better armed and have an organised militia with women and children in their ranks. l Most of the dead and injured are Hema. l International aid organisations took three days to bury victims of the most recent clashes. l A fragile February 9, 2001 peace accord halted recent clashes, but sporadic fighting still reported in far east. Ends