SUMMARY
The Bafuliiru, also known as Bafulero, Bafuliru, Bafuliro, Fuliiru or Fuliro, were a Bantu ethnic community in eastern DR Congo (Zaire). They primarily lived in South Kivu Province, especially in Uvira territory, the Bafuliiru Chiefdom, the Ruzizi Plain and the Moyens and Hauts Plateaux south of Lake Kivu, near the borders with Rwanda and Burundi. The spelling Bafuliiru was preferred by many members of the community because it better reflected pronunciation in their own language. They spoke Fuliiru, a Bantu language. The Bafuliiru were mainly Christian and traditionally relied on agriculture, livestock-raising and local craft production. The Fuliro population in DR Congo (Zaire) was estimated at around 678 000.
The Bafuliiru regarded themselves as one of the autochthonous communities of South Kivu and emphasized long-standing customary ties to land and local authority in Uvira and neighbouring areas. Their conflict involvement was shaped by disputes over land, customary authority, cattle, local representation and the status of communities considered to be more recent arrivals or outsiders. These identity claims should be treated cautiously, since identities and authority structures in Uvira had historically been more fluid and only hardened more clearly under colonial rule. The colonial system of customary chiefdoms made ethnicity, land access and political representation closely connected, creating long-term tensions in areas where different communities lived intermingled but customary authority was associated with one ruling group.
The Bafuliiru were especially important in two customary-political spaces: the Bafuliiru Chiefdom and the Ruzizi Plain Chiefdom. The Bafuliiru Chiefdom was named after its ruling ethnic group and included the groupements of Muhungu, Kigoma, Runingu, Itara-Luvungi and Lemera. Most of these groupements straddled the Moyens and Hauts Plateaux, while Itara-Luvungi extended into the Ruzizi Plain. Bafuliiru also formed a majority in the Ruzizi Plain Chiefdom, where they lived intermingled with Barundi and a small number of Banyamulenge, and significant numbers also lived in Uvira city.
The Ruzizi Plain was one of the most important areas of Bafuliiru conflict involvement. There, Bafuliiru and Barundi communities had long disputed land, cattle, property and customary authority. The Ruzizi Plain Chiefdom had historically been ruled by a Rundi dynasty, while many Bafuliiru claimed that the plain belonged within their sphere of influence. Contact between Bafuliiru and Barundi also involved intermarriage, friendship pacts and economic exchange, but demographic change, land pressure and the colonial fixing of customary authority strengthened Bafuliiru claims to political leadership over the plain. These tensions intensified during periods of political crisis and armed mobilization.
During the 1998 war, the advance of the RCD, which many autochthonous communities perceived as a Rwandan-backed invasion, intensified local hostility toward Banyamulenge and other Rwandophone communities. In the Uvira and Fizi areas, Bafuliiru and neighbouring Bavira civilians were among those targeted in reprisals by RCD-linked forces after killings of Banyamulenge civilians. This period strengthened local narratives of self-defence among Bafuliiru and other autochthonous communities and contributed to the growth of Mayi Mayi mobilization in South Kivu.
Communal interests were expressed through customary authorities, local notables and youth groups. Bafuliiru mobilization therefore varied across time and place. Some armed activity took the form of village or locality-based self-defence, while other mobilization was channelled through more organized Mayi Mayi groups active in Uvira, Fizi and the Ruzizi Plain.
Local defence forces became particularly important in the Bafuliiru Chiefdom after the Kimia II operations against FDLR-FOCA. As FDLR-FOCA retaliation and weak FARDC protection increased insecurity in the Moyens Plateaux, former Mayi Mayi combatants and local communities organized village-based defence forces. The mwami of the Bafuliiru, Ndare Simba Simon, sought to formalize these groups as a chiefdom-controlled defence structure in cooperation with FARDC. These local defence forces generally had no anti-government agenda, were tolerated by state security forces and often collaborated with the army. They differed from many Mayi Mayi groups because they were village-based, part-time and formally linked to customary authority, although not all commanders obeyed a central command.
The local defence forces later became entangled in Bafuliiru politics and local governance. They were renamed Forces d’autodéfense locales et légitimes, or FALL, although this name was little known and rarely used. Their commander-in-chief was Molière Mutulanyi until 2015, when he was replaced by Kalihako Muhombo. Both were former Mayi Mayi officers. Although the forces were initially presented as protection for village populations, they were also used by customary authorities and local elites to strengthen their power, intimidate opponents and influence disputes. Their politicization deepened after the succession conflict in the Bafuliiru Chiefdom following the death of Mwami Ndare Simba in December 2012, when rival factions supported Adam Kalingishi and Albert Mukogabwe.
The Ruzizi Plain conflict escalated after the assassination of the Barundi mwami Floribert Nsabimana Ndabagoye in April 2012, shortly before his planned reinstatement as customary chief of the Ruzizi Plain. Investigations by the military prosecutor’s office reportedly implicated Bede Rusagara and a network of Fuliiru leaders, although no suspects were indicted because of political interference and lack of evidence. Fuliiru youth mobilization, road barricades and the emergence of local defence groups followed.
Bafuliiru-linked armed groups were active in and around Uvira territory, Fizi territory, the Ruzizi Plain and the Hauts and Moyens Plateaux. In Mutarule, sources described Bafuliiru Mayi Mayi groups as having been active for many years and accused some of them of cattle theft from Barundi and Banyamulenge herders. One such group was led by Karakara, a deserter from the Congolese army. In 2014, tensions between Bafuliro, Barundi and Banyamulenge around Mutarule were linked to cattle theft, revenge killings and competition over customary power. The 2014 Mutarule massacre, in which people of Fuliiru descent were killed, further increased distrust of the national army and support for Fuliiru Mayi Mayi groups. Fuliiru Mayi Mayi groups also competed among themselves over spheres of influence, booty and links to rival local factions.
Bede Rusagara was one of the most important armed figures in the Uvira/Ruzizi conflict landscape. He was a Fuliiru from Mutarule who had served in different armed structures before deserting from FARDC in 2011 and creating an armed group later known as the Mouvement congolais pour le changement. His group drew on local defence networks but was also linked to Rwandophone, ex-CNDP and M23-related circles, which made many Bafuliiru mistrust him. He nevertheless built influence through multi-positioning, political protection, relations with local authorities, banditry, cattle looting, kidnapping, ambushes and extortion. He remained one of the most powerful warlords in Uvira until he was killed by FARDC in August 2015.
The Bafuliiru’s position in a border region shaped their relationship with neighbouring states and foreign armed groups. The community itself should not be described as a state-backed diaspora or proxy. However, Bafuliiru-inhabited areas in Uvira and Fizi were deeply affected by Burundian and Rwandan conflict dynamics. Burundian armed groups, including Palipehutu-FNL, RED-Tabara and other Burundian opposition formations, used parts of South Kivu as rear bases, while Burundian state forces and Imbonerakure later carried out incursions into Uvira and Fizi. Fuliiru Mayi Mayi and local defence actors sometimes collaborated with, traded with or fought alongside foreign armed groups such as Palipehutu-FNL or FDLR-FOCA, but these links varied by commander and period and should not be generalized to the Bafuliiru community as a whole.
The Bafuliiru were linked to more organized armed groups mainly through Mayi Mayi formations and local defence networks active in South Kivu. The clearest Bafuliiru-linked formation was FABB, also known as Force d’autodéfense Biloze Bishambuke, Forces armées Biloze Bishambuke and Mayi Mayi Biloze Bishambuke. It was an umbrella movement of predominantly Bafuliiru and Banyindu self-defence groups active in the Hauts and Moyens Plateaux. It emerged around Milimba in 2012 and initially consisted of local groups mobilized in response to cattle theft, attacks on Bafuliiru communities and conflict with rival armed groups, including Mayi Mayi Yakutumba.
Bafuliiru also appeared in later intercommunal violence outside the core Uvira/Ruzizi setting. In the Kalemie and Force Bendera areas, violence between Bafuliiru and Bambuti was linked to disputes over cattle, forest access, environmental destruction, land use and accusations of theft and social domination.
