A new militia has emerged in the DR Congo this time round from the central region of the country and with unusual demands - installing veteran opposition politician Etienne Tshisekedi as president.
Tshisekedi is a long time opposition politician who is among the contenders in last year's DRC presidential elections. He contested the results insisting he was the legitimate president-elect.
In an interview with Radio Okapi, the militia commander Lt. Col. John Tshibangu formerly of FARDC referred to his rebel group as the Movement for Claiming the Truth of the Ballot Box.
Two days later, in another phone interview with the opposition news website "Congo Indépendant," he called his movement the Congolese People's Army for Change and Democracy.
According to agencies, Col. Tshibangu went AWOL with 12 other fellow tribesmen from the ranks of the FARDC on August 12, and was second-in-command of the 4th FARDC Military Region based in Kananga, Occidental Kasai.
By the time Tshibangu emerged to announce the creation of his Luba tribal militia in a phone interview with Radio Okapi on Thursday, August 16, he'd already promoted himself to Lieutenant General.
However, speaking to The New Times yesterday, the head of DRC intelligence services, Col. Kalev Mutond, denied a new armed group had been formed, calling the reports lies.
"There is no rebel movement in Kassai region. It is not true. That is not correct," he said.
There are several armed groups in D R Congo, including the so called Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Mai-Mai, Congolese Resistance Patriots (PARECO), Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) of Joseph Kony. Others include Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri/Popular Front for Justice in Congo (FRPI/FPJC), Independent Movement of Liberation and Allies.
Meanwhile, reports have emerged indicating that the evidence contained in a document released by the UN Group of Experts on DRC accusing Rwanda of aiding M23, a new rebel group fighting the government of Joseph Kabila, may have not only been untrue but premised on forgery. For example, a one Captain Saddat Janvier the Group claimed to be a Rwanda Defence Force soldier, is a FARDC officer with ID number 166964208920.
Contrary to the experts' allegations, the officer in question was integrated into the FARDC as a former CNDP officer in 2009, and was recently arrested as a potential mutineer and imprisoned in Butembo after serving as Company Commander within the 807th regiment, 1st Battalion, C Company.
Col. Mutond could not confirm whether the said officer belongs to Congolese army, but said the matter would be handled through the Joint Verification Mechanism Committee set up to verify such claims between Rwanda and DRC.
"We can examine this problem through the committee," he noted.
The Group first accused Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels in an addendum to an interim report to the UN Sanctions Committee on June 21, 2012, to which Rwanda provided a rebuttal.
Kigali has dismissed the latest allegations, accusing the Group of bias.
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DRC trouble sponsors should not jubilate as yet! Tshibangu won't go anywhere. If any indication, he fiercely fought CNDP when he was in rebellion himself. Our problem in the DRC, which begs urgent action, is to flush M23 and FDLR out of the country,no dstraction. Plans are in the works.
Congo should be rid of these animals by any means necessary. These parasites from rwanda daily rape our mothers and aunties, children and as if raping isn't enough, they try to force fathers to rape their own daughters and the ones that refuse to do as they say, the get their eyes poke with a knife or a spear. Things like a piece of wood, or anything they can think of, are then put in the victims' (mostly women) reproductive parts after they've done raping them. As a result of that, these women's reproductive parts are badly damaged. I recently saw a bill clinton go to rwanda to do an interview with some of the biggest medias in the World as a sign of his unbreakable support to rwanda. Bill, before you decide to lobby for rwanda, just imagine what these women have been going through because of rwanda. As a father and a "husband" how would you feel if Hillary or Chelsea was to be treated like that? Over 5 million people have lost their lives in Congo and millions more Congolese lives ruined because of rwanda. Because of you paul kagame thinks that he can do just about anything and get away with it and the results of that are seen in Congo. STOP SUPPORTING KAGAME.
the democratic republic of the congo is such a mammoth country with continental dimensions, lacking basics of a modern state in terms of ordinary public administration,transport and communication infrastructures,security...: a huge jungle covering square kms 2,400,000 where you still have millions of people living in conditions that are typically primeval: antediluvian!
how on earth can the international community feel comfortable with such an unworthy state not matching minimal standards qualifying it as a full-fledged state deserving to be referred to as a genuine subject of international law?
with multiple rebellions cropping up like mushrooms at all latitudes of the mammoth, observers are sensing that the 1960 attempt at dismemberment of the congolese state is now inexorably looming ahead. talks of "balkanization of the congo" are hear at every turn in kinshasa. joseph kabila recently won yet another presidential mandate in elections that were said to be massively rigged. catholic church cardinal monsengwo pasinya officially rejected the polls results as outright fraud; meaning they do not recognize president kabila's authority! etienne tshisekedi, leader of the opposition was largely perceived as the winner of the elections. he was sworn in as president of the democratic republic of the congo in his limete residence. kabila was of course also sworn in. LE RIDICULE NE TUE POINT AU CONGO. political anlysts have been saying that if the congolese state cannot transform from a unitary state to a federation, then the option left is for provinces to secede and become independent states...
Dear allAfrica, before posting such article involving a nation, please verify well with your sources. This is not a Luba tribal militia! You got it wrong. It is a national figh. And those who undermine this are in for a big surprise. The real revolution is never on tv or radio, it is on the ground and never broadcasted