SUMMARY

CNRD (Conseil national pour le renouveau et la démocratie, National Council for Renewal and Democracy) also known as CNRD-UBWIYUNGE was formed as a splinter group from FDLR on 31 May 2016. CNRD has a military wing called FLN (Front de libération nationale). The group presented itself as a Rwandan political opposition party in exile based in DR Congo. As FDLR, CNRD presented their goals as working for the rights of Rwandan refugees and to pressure the Rwandan government to open political space and commit to dialogue with the ‘real political opposition’, but CNRD splintered from FDLR over divergences regarding the technicalities of a biometric refugee census. Politically CNRD was related to Societé civile internationale des réfugiés rwandais (SOCIR) while FDLR maintained their connection to Societé civile des Rwandais réfugiés en RDC (SOCIRWA).

In 2018 CNRD joined the alliance RMDC (Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change, Mouvement Rwandais pour le Changement Démocratie). RMDC brought together groups such as CNRD, PDR-Ihumure, RRM and RDI-Rwanda Rwiza.

CNRD comprised about 250 to 300 combatants in Nord Kivu divided into five sectors. In 2018 they were forced to leave Nord Kivu and settled in Sud Kivu in 2019.

CNRD was led by “Colonel” Laurent Ndagijimana (also known as Wilson Irategeka or Lumbago). “Colonel”. Harerimana Hamada (also known as Mulamba Junior) was the overall military commander and the military commander of the North Kivu section was “Colonel” Antoine Hakizimana (also known as Colonel Jeva). In 2023 Hamada split from the CNRD led by Jeva.