Inquiry launched in DR Congo over status of Tutsi village

Oct 20, 2020

Minembwe, in the highlands of South Kivu province, is inhabited by the Banyamulenge community, which has distant origins among neighbouring Rwanda's minority Tutsi people.

DR Congo's parliament on Monday launched an inquiry into a minister's attempt to give special autonomous status to a remote village, in an area where inter-communal violence is becoming increasingly vicious.

Minembwe, in the highlands of South Kivu province, is inhabited by the Banyamulenge community, which has distant origins among neighbouring Rwanda's minority Tutsi people.

For many Congolese, the hotly contested issue has awakened painful memories of the Second Congo War, from 1998 to 2003, when Paul Kagame's Rwanda and its militias were fighting in eastern DR Congo.

The National Assembly has questioned decentralisation minister Azarias Ruberwa over the move in late September to see that Minembwe be granted the special status, which some Congolese view as benefitting Rwanda.

Himself Banyamulenge, Ruberwa is a former leader of a pro-Rwandan rebellion.

Ruberwa has said it was the provincial governor who attempted to alter Minembwe's status to that of a commune headed by a mayor from the Banyamulenge community.

To try to defuse the explosive issue, President Felix Tshisekedi earlier this month cancelled the plan and instead promised to set up an expert commission to redefine Minembwe's territorial limits.

The attempt to change its status was made "on the basis of a lie," said MP Ami Amatobe.

Politicians and civil society groups say they fear that the move marks the beginning of the break-up of eastern DR Congo.

"Let us peacefully resist the Balkanisation of our country, depopulation and occupation of land," the country's conference of Catholic bishops said Monday in a statement.

Villagers are often caught up in a conflict which pits the Banyamulenge against other communities in DR Congo, resulting in more than 100 deaths last year according to the UN.

Banyamulenge militias are also accused by provincial lawmakers of attacking the village of Kipupu in July and massacring more than 200 people.

Researchers with the Kivu Security Tracker organisation, which maps violence and analyses trends in North Kivu and South Kivu, reported 18 people killed.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});