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Congo-Brazzaville |
CIVIL WAR
After a lull of two years, war has broken out again in the Pool area, in southern Congo-Brazzaville. Here’s a broad outline of what’s been happening
Fear, mistrust, lack of confidence. It’s all because of these, that a fourth civil war has started again in the Pool region, southern Congo. This is the same area where the people had already been traumatised by the 1998-1999 war. This present conflict is between Bernard Kolelas’s Ninja militia, whose leader is Pastor Ntumi, and the government forces supported by an array of foreign troops from Angola, Chad, and Rwanda. (Bernard Kolelas was Lissouba’s prime minister. Lissouba was overthrown by Sassou-Nguesso following an atrocious civil war in 1997).
On 12 April, the government held its first cabinet meeting since the beginning of the crisis. On that occasion, there wasn’t any official assessment of the current position in the fighting, in which the army’s using heavy weaponry and combat helicopters to finish off the rebels. But according to what displaced persons (DP)s fleeing the fighting in the Pool are saying, there’s an unspecified number of civilian, militia and military casualties among the war victims. Humanitarian organisations report that in Kinkala, the regional capital, there’s already more than 20,000 DPs — without counting many people — men, women and children, who’ve fled into the forest to escape the fighting. Everyday, crowds of people who’ve walked long distances, arrive in the frontier areas of the Pool, especially Bouenza and the Plateaux. All say that armed men have plundered their villages before burning them. William Patton is the United Nations’s humanitarian aid coordinator in Congo. He’s appealed to the combatants, urging them «to respect the population».
What started the war?
It’s none too clear what started the recent spate of fighting. Indeed, as yet, there’s hasn’t been any inquiry into the 2 April attack on the passenger train, travelling between the port-city of Pointe Noire and the capital, Brazzaville, which was attacked near Kinkembo, in the Pool region. The Congolese army immediately accused the Ninjas. The Ninjas said the government forces were responsible, accusing them of carrying out the attack «to harm Sassou-Nguesso who had just been elected by a massive 89% of those who voted.»
The ordinary citizen largely shares this viewpoint. There’s many a Congolese who believes this war is due to some people who are dissatisfied with the President and his government, and are out to «get him». The people in question are dissatisfied because the President conducted his campaign for re-election, by leaving aside his traditional supporters i.e. the Congolese Workers’ Party, the former single party, which had helped him take over power in 1997. On 7 April, when returning from a long African trip, Sassou had the courage for the first time to warn «both opposition and government politicians to have a sense of responsibility». A declaration which was favourably welcomed by a major part of Congolese opinion.
A meeting that caused trouble
Many Congolese, tired and fed-up with these wild-cat wars, are convinced the recent fighting broke out following the 21 March meeting, held in Brazzaville by Mr. Ngakala, High Commissioner for the Reintegration of ex-Combatants. And this at a time when negotiations had already re-opened between the government and rebels During the meeting, Mr. Ngakala had declared Mr. Ntumi to be a troublemaker. According to the High Commissioner, Rev. Ntumi had said he’d only leave the forest (from where he’s conducting his civil war) if his men were to be reintegrated into the police force. Ntumi is also reported as having demanded a special status for himself, and a military appointment with the rank of Army General. Ntumi is said to have complained that the day he’d arrived in Brazzaville, a general strike was taking place. All these requests and complaints were considered «unacceptable» in the government’s eyes.
In a press release published in the opposition newspaper, La Rue Meurt (issue of 28 March), Ntumi’s National Resistance Council (CNR), condemned Mr. Ngakala’s remarks, calling them: «Dilatory and inciting to hatred and division. For none of these remarks reflects the spirit of Rev. Ntumi’s concerns ever since the launching of negotiations on 16 October 2001». Rev. Ntumi’s lawyer, Jean-Phillipe Esseau, was astonished to note that the government had violated the confidentiality which surrounded the talks. He emphasised: «Everything said by the minister during the meeting refers to demands and suggestions made by Rev.Ntumi on previous occasions and these have already been the subject of concessions».
On 7 April, a climate of fear and mistrust reigned in Brazzaville. Officials and police officers dealing with the reintegration of former fighters, were in close talks with the 700 ex-Ninjas who had laid down their weapons and returned to Brazzaville since 1999. The general feeling was it would be better to confine these young people to barracks, as they were quite capable of taking up arms again, in support of their comrades fighting in the Pool. For their part, the ex-militiamen had reassured the government they’d do nothing to upset Brazzaville’s daily life. 9 April was the day planned to march the ex-fighters to barracks. But what happened? The young people suddenly changed their minds — they were wondering what was going to happen to them. They took off from Makélékélé Sports Centre, South Brazzaville, where they were encamped and from where the police force were coming to get them. The army panicked and conducted a thorough search to the south of Brazzaville, in particular in Kingouari, where the Ninjas had withdrawn. During the search, the army used strong-armed tactics with the aim (at least that’s what the army said), of recovering arms and ammunition illegally held by the ex-militiamen. Fighting suddenly erupted. The army used heavy weaponry which caused the population of these districts to flee towards the northern zones of the city.
If calm seems to have returned to Brazzaville, fear remains, fanned by constantly circulating rumours. It’s said the rebels are going to attack the capital. Recently, Minister Ngakala reassured Brazzaville’s citizens: «These rumours are transmitted by robbers hell-bent on plundering the people». He was referring to unruly el-ements among the military.
Meanwhile, Brazzaville’s socio-economic life is going from bad to worse. Prices of foodstuffs and agricultural produce first doubled then tripled. The weight of a loaf of bread decreased considerably while the price of french bread rose from 75 CFA francs to 125 CFA francs. Every day, there’s long queues of vehicles in front of petrol pumps. Drivers are almost fighting to get fuel. Taxis and minibuses will now only make short trips. Many citizens have taken to walking to get to work. Brazzaville is virtually cut off from the rest of the country, because the railway linking the capital to Pointe Noire (Congo-Brazza’s main economic centre, 510 kms to the south) is not operating for the moment. Also, National Highway One which is used to bring agricultural produce from the Pool to the capital, is likewise cut.
All this has happened at the very moment when the parliamentary elections were due to take place. (12 May). These elections have now been rescheduled to 26 May.
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