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