SUMMARY

Mayi Mayi Chinja Chinja was a local Mayi Mayi militia active in Katanga Province, DR Congo (Zaire). The group was led by Commander Jean-Pierre Guena, also known as Mbayo Mpiana Mwana Butot, Sobribet de Chinzachinza, and Chinja Chinja. The term Chinja Chinja was literally translated as “the Ripper” and was used for people believed to drink the blood of Black people. The group was accused of cannibalism, fetish rites, killings, torture, rape, and mutilation of civilians in Katanga.

Mayi Mayi Chinja Chinja’s objectives were not clearly articulated in political terms. Like other Mayi Mayi groups, it drew on local self-defense traditions, spiritual practices, and wartime mobilization. Unlike many Mayi Mayi forces in Katanga that had supported the Government of DR Congo during the 1998–2001 intrastate conflict, Mayi Mayi Chinja Chinja opposed the government. Its violence was directed primarily against civilians.

The group operated in Katanga Province, particularly in Upper Lomami district in northwestern Katanga. It was part of the broader post-war insecurity in Katanga, where several Mayi Mayi groups remained active after the main armed conflict and after the peace process had begun to integrate or demobilize major armed actors.

Mayi Mayi Chinja Chinja recruited locally in Katanga and included a significant number of children. Around 30 percent of its forces were reported to have been child combatants. The group’s membership was organized around Commander Guena and local Mayi Mayi networks. Its fighters used Mayi Mayi-style spiritual and fetish practices, which contributed to the group’s reputation for ritual violence.

The group’s structure was centered on Jean-Pierre Guena and did not appear to have had a broad political organization. Its military capacity was limited but sufficient to commit serious abuses against civilians in areas where state authority was weak. The group used local knowledge, small arms, and intimidation, and it was accused of extreme forms of violence, including mutilation and cannibalistic practices.

In Katanga, politicians reportedly influenced some Mayi Mayi groups through kinship relations and the provision of weapons. Jean-Pierre Guena was reportedly related to former Katanga governor Ngoy Mukena. These links reflected the way local armed groups in Katanga could be shaped by political patronage, kinship ties, and wartime networks.

In February 2005, Chinja Chinja agreed to negotiate the disarmament of his militia. In April 2005, Jean-Pierre Guena travelled to Kinshasa for negotiations. He was arrested there on war-crimes charges and remained in provisional custody from July 2005. His arrest weakened the group and marked the end of Mayi Mayi Chinja Chinja as a significant armed actor.