“A military court in Kinshasa has handed down the death penalty to former electoral commission boss Corneille Nangaa and more than two dozen other members of the rebel group, Alliance Fleuve Congo or Congo River Alliance (AFC).The Congolese court adopted a rarely used weapon to tame a group associated with the M23 rebels, who were declared a terrorist organisation. Leaders of the M23, Sultani Makenga and Bertrand Bisimwa and their spokesmen Willy Ngoma and Lawrence Kanyuka, are in the same boat” (Capital FM Uganda, 09.08.2024).
“When a power becomes afraid, it is because it sees its fall coming. And its fall is this parody of a trial, followed by obsequious condemnations. It is the expression of the fear of a regime at bay, and which sees its decline coming. These sentences only bind and concern those who pronounced them. They will be obliged, after release, to return to them and ask for forgiveness for having carried out a manifestly illegal order, intended to please a autocrate crook, sick and charlatan to boot” (Corneille Nangaa, 08.08.2024).
Today we are getting the news that Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) and Mouvement du Mars 23 (M23) leaders have been sentenced to death by a military court in Kinshasa. Their armed rebellion and usage of militia activities within the Republic have caused this. They are parts of armed rebellion against the state and is directly challenging the Republic’s own army in parts of the Republic. Which is reasonable to target and sanction, to give the leaders a punitive action and act within the rule of law. Therefore, this sort of sentencing on them isn’t shocking, but is a sign of the will of the state.
A state that hasn’t had the will or the power to do so. Now they are addressing the insurgency and the militias within the Republic. It is targeting the M23/AFC or the AFC/M23 which seems inter-connected. They seem like an entity and the leadership there can be questioned. As they are targeting a region and province of the DRC.
M23 are a threat in the Nord-Kivu Province. That is common knowledge and AFC is a vehicle of just that. The fall of Nangaa is clear too, as he was a respected fellow and a man who had the authority of the electoral commission of the DRC. He was the man that announced the victory of President Felix Tshisekedi in 2019. Now, his sentenced by the court to death. That is significant and shows what is possible in the DRC.
Nangaa has to answer for his choices and why he took part of the AFC. The avenues was maybe closed and he knew he wouldn’t have any favours with the allies of Tshisekedi, as he was a man that had entrusted this role by former President Joseph Kabila. Therefore, he was a relic and a man of the wrong administration.
Still, it is risky to associate yourself with an armed rebellion and militia’s within a Republic. That could easily be seen as treason and be seen as a criminal act against the state. This isn’t anything new for the M23, but for the AFC it is. Others has been here before and won’t be last, as long as there are mineral resources to loot and lacking structures to control the territories. Which gives breading ground for rebellion and armed militias to control mineral rich regions. That’s where these comes in and make a business out of it. Since the army isn’t capable or have the manpower to enforce rule of law. Therefore, in the vacuum of the state, these militias and armed rebellions comes in and takeover from the state.
That isn’t done without a risk and they are only allowed to do so. If they serve the interests of the current leadership and President. If the militias or armed groups has association with the government. They could get away with their crimes and profiteering on the extraction of minerals within their zones or occupied areas.
That’s why we know this will not stop the M23 or the AFC from operating. They are now seen as illegal entities and are a danger to society. This it should have been seen from the onset and from how they have used lethal force to have a say. Not only for the association with foreign entities and logistical support as such. Which has been reported and been known, especially for the M23. We shouldn’t be shocked if the AFC are the same or in the same boat. They are working for the same thing and trying to evolve the same beast. Therefore, the state is within it’s rights to address it.
The Military Court has only reacted within its realm and within its mandate. The ones charged and getting on trial should answer for it. It is only righteous… and for a greater cause. Some might say this is to consolidate or control more power in the eyes of the President. Well, the M23 and AFC isn’t Sunday School Choirs or Bible Salesmen, but an armed opposition against the state. That’s why the state is within it’s right to sanction it. Peace.
MinBane 