MAI MAI KIFUAFUA STILL SUPPORT INTEGRATION, BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000574 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS PHUM PINR CG SUBJECT: MAI MAI KIFUAFUA STILL SUPPORT INTEGRATION, BUT BECOMING RESTIVE Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Samuel V. Brock for reasons 1.4 ( b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: A spokesman for the Mai Mai Kifuafua told us that, although the group has repeatedly demonstrated its interest to integrate more of its troops, FARDC unresponsiveness and ineptitude has prevented the process from moving forward. Kifuafua claims to support FARDC operations against the FDLR, but it also claims that former CNDP elements in the FARDC have attacked the Mai Mai group. A former military commander of Kifuafua told us that his integrated forces have not been paid and they have grown restive. The Kifuafua (who represent the interests of the Tembo ethnic community) were critical of most GDRC officials for their perceived inaction in protecting the civilian population. Only Chief of Staff General Didier Etumba received praise from the Kifuafua. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) We recently met with two individuals close to the Mai Mai Kifuafua: the group's spokesman, Didier Bitaki, and one of its former military commanders, Lieutenant Colonel Salomo, who integrated into the FARDC in 2003 and is currently the deputy commander of the 221st Brigade at Pinga. Bitaki represented Mai Mai Kifuafua on the Amani Commission, serving also as spokesman for all of North Kivu's armed groups in the process. He is a member of the National Monitoring Committee. Origins of Mai Mai Kifuafua -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Mai Mai Kifuafua, drawn from the Tembo ethnic group, was formed in the early 1990s in the context of fighting between Tembos and Hutus, primarily over land issues. It operates in the forests southeast of Walikale, near the borders with Masisi and the South Kivu territory of Kalehe. Bitaki claimed the group numbered 2,000 combatants. According to Bitaki, Kifuafua is the "original" Mai Mai group from which all others sprung. (Comment: While this claim is exaggerated, Kifuafua is one of the more serious Mai Mai groups. End comment.) Stop-and-go integration -------------- ¶4. (C) Bitaki stressed that, politically, Kifuafua remains committed to integration, dismissing a May letter in which eight ex-North Kivu armed groups, including a Kifuafua "General," threatened to pullout of the process. Officially, 376 Kifuafua combatants have integrated, but many to continue to operate independently to protect their communities from both FARDC and FDLR elements. Bitaki maintained that GDRC incompetence and bad faith were the obstacles to the group's more thorough integration. Bitaki claimed that in February, 1,739 Kifuafua combatants with 1,270 weapons presented themselves for accelerated integration at Hombo. According to Bitaki, they waited in vain for one month before returning to protect their communities against escalating FDLR attacks. They returned to Hombo in April, but again went back to their communities following the May 9-10 killings at Busurungi. Now, 1,355 Kifuafua are again awaiting integration at Hombo, following a personal plea from Chief of Staff Didier Etumba. Kifuafua-FARDC relations -------------- ¶5. (C) Bitaki acknowledged that Kifuafua and the FARDC had a complex relationship, but he maintained that Kifuafua had always backed the national army. Since February, Bitaki added, the Mai Mai group has supported the FARDC against the FDLR, protecting zones where the FARDC was not present and repulsing FDLR attacks after FARDC forces had retreated. Ex-CNDP elements in the FARDC have allegedly attacked Kifuafua elements as a result of local disputes, most recently on June 2 with four Kifuafua and one FARDC killed. Bitaki said that over 200 FARDC troops recently deserted to Kifuafua (Comment: an independent source confirmed this. The motive is likely material: FARDC does not regularly pay its troops, while Kifuafua has better access to local supplies. Salomo added that he was in Goma to pressure the FARDC command to release his brigade's April salaries. His troops, he added, have only received one month's pay this year, and they are threatening to loot if they are not paid. Wrath towards the GDRC KINSHASA 00000574 002 OF 002 -------------- ¶6. (C) Bitaki and Salomo both vented at the GDRC's inability to protect the civilian population. They were highly critical of most GDRC officials: they had "zero confidence" in the GDRC's lead negotiator, Father Apollinaire Malu Malu; General Amuli, commander of the Kimia II operations, was a "Tutsi sympathizer" because he is a Hema; President Kabila had no interest in protecting the population in the Kivus; North Kivu Governor Julien Paluku only cared about his ethnic group, the Nande; PARECO-Nande military leader "General" Lafontaine was "a political and military lightweight." General Etumba was the only GDRC figure whom Bitaki and Salomo said they trusted. Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) While other ethnic groups have focused their complaints on the Rwandophone rise, it was interesting that Kifuafua (and the Tembo ethnic group by extension) wrath was towards the GDRC's inability to protect the civilian population and its poor performance to date in Kimia II. Kifuafua's integration into the FARDC is a good example of the messy accelerated integration process. It is not surprising, however, but rather a symptom of a broken army in need of massive reform. The multi-layered relationship between the FARDC and Kifuafua is also a reminder that the FARDC operates as multiple, often autonomous, units with myriad loyalties and interests. HAYKIN