Congo targets UPDF

By Emmy Allio & Els De Temmerman
in Aba, DR Congo

Tension runs high on the Congo-Sudan border.
The elite unit of the Congolese army (FARDC), that was sent to disarm the LRA in Garamba National Park, has instead turned against the Ugandan army (UPDF), accusing it of infiltration into its territory.

“Our enemy is UPDF,” says Capt. John Peter Molengo, commander of the special unit sent to Aba to deal with the LRA threat. “We are gathering evidence of UPDF infiltration and handing it to the UN.”

The commando battalion has deployed along the Congo-Sudan border, to fight any incursions by UPDF and the SPLA, contrary to their original mission of fighting the LRA inside the Garamba National Park.

The commander shows pictures of grenades, gumboots, blood-stained uniforms and biscuits, which he claims were left behind by Ugandan soldiers. “On April 26, we killed two Ugandan soldiers, injured several others and captured some of their ammunition when a group of 300 crossed into Lagabe,” Molengo said.

While displaying strong hostile feelings against Uganda, the FARDC commanders in Aba can hardly hide their sympathy for the LRA. They talk with great excitement about the four meetings they had with the Ugandan rebels, including two encounters with the rebels’ second-in-command, Vincent Otti.

“The first meeting took place on September 20,” recalls the chief of the Border Security, Lt. Germain Pierre Nesoit. “Six LRA representatives reported at the office of the Chef de Cité of Aba,” he said, pointing to the nearby Queen’s House, venue of the meetings between the LRA, MONUC and FARDC.

Footage of the meeting shows the LRA delegation, led by Col. Tabu Makosa, explaining that they have come to Congo to take a rest and prepare to continue the fight against President Yoweri Museveni. Five revolvers are lying on a table in front of them. The Congolese authorities reiterate that the LRA are welcome as refugees on condition that they lay down their weapons.

“The second meeting took place on September 25, 2005 at Queen’s House, used as the headquarters of the Congolese army,” Lt. Nesoit continues. “People of MONUC were present. The LRA representatives said they refused to lay down their arms and just wanted a refuge, from where they could negotiate.”

A third meeting followed on September 28, 2005 at Mamuru village, close to the FARDC border detachment. “This time Vincent Otti himself was present,” says Lt. Nesoit, who attended the meeting. “He had at least thirty escorts, all young boys with rasta hair. Some were only twelve years old. Four were wounded. We offered to take them to the hospital but Otti refused.”

The Aba security boss describes Otti as an agreeable man. “He was not in any way offensive or aggressive but laughed a lot. He explained that they wanted Museveni to leave because he had made them suffer a lot. To me, basically, Otti is a good man.”

A few days later, they found Otti’s group, camped at Ima, from where they gave them food and escorted them up to the border. “They were about 300 persons, among them 17 women,” Nesoit explains. “One woman had just delivered a baby. We offered to take her to hospital but Otti again refused.”

The Congolese officers said Uganda was using the LRA as a pretext to invade their country. “They just want to enter and loot our wealth, like they did in the past. LRA is not in Congo.

According to our information, the LRA is at present at Mount Tungu in Southern Sudan, on the banks of the rivers AO1, AO2 and AO3,” said Molengo.

However, no such rivers exist in Southern Sudan. AO1, AO2 and AO3 refer to sections of Garamba National Park, while Mount Tungu is a hill in Western Equatoria, where UPDF has a communication post.

The intensity of the situation is exemplified by the alleged presence over the Garamba of Antonov plane, which, three times a week, hovers over the section of the national park where LRA is believed to be hiding. “For the past three weeks, the plane flies over Garamba at least thrice a week. We believe that it is the Sudan government airdropping supplies for LRA.

“It is a complex situation because Kony and Otti are now retraining their forces. How long are we going to helplessly watch LRA re-organising itself,” said a senior SPLA intelligence officer in Yei. UPDF officers in Yei and Maridi areas confirmed that the Anotov planes ‘hang’ over Garamba.

In Aba, civilians said the Ugandan rebels were easily identified when one seeks the origin of dry game meat being sold in markets in Aba, Misa and Kurukwata. “Because of the big Congolese army presence in Aba, the Ugandan rebels no longer come here openly. But in Kurukwata and Misa, the rebels move openl?” asked Kamba, a local palm oil dealer in Aba.

“In Kurukwata, the local population asked the Congolese army to explain the open presence of the Ugandan rebels, but the FARDC officers said LRA is not dangerous because they do not disturb the Congolese population or the Congolese army,” Kamba said.

Tasile Lopayi, 43, a teacher in Aba, said, “To the Congolese civilians, the enemy is the Congolese army, not LRA. FARDC robs us and deprives us of our food and belongings. LRA sells us dry meat at a much cheaper price. We hate to be arrested and jailed in military detachment,” he added.

The hatred for the UPDF seems to have crossed the red line. On May 25, the Congolese army in Aba arrested a Congolese civilian, Jean Paul Guya, for allegedly crossing the border into southern Sudan, allegedly to pass information to UPDF on LRA activities in Garamba. “Guya was tortured and is still in military custody. His crime was crossing the border to southern Sudan,” a relative of the detained man said.

But a security source in Congo explained the sudden change of the MONUC and FARDC position on the LRA issue, saying the aim was to ensure that the July 30 general elections are held without undue interruptions.