SUMMARY
NDC-R-GBS (Nduma Défense du Congo-Rénové/Gilbert Bwira Chuo, Reformed Nduma Defence of Congo/Gilbert Bwira Chuo), also referred to as the NDC-R Bwira, was a splinter faction of NDC-R active mainly in Walikale, Masisi and Rutshuru territories in North Kivu, DR Congo (Zaire). The group was formed in July 2020 after Gilbert Bwira Chuo, the former deputy commander of NDC-R, broke with Guidon Shimiray Mwissa. In some sources and spellings, Gilbert Bwira Chuo appeared as Gilbert Bwira Shuo. The faction emerged after Bwira and other senior NDC-R officers accused Guidon of “deviant behaviour”, serious human rights abuses and mismanagement of the movement.
NDC-R-GBS objectives were linked to internal control of the NDC-R network, eventual integration into DR Congo (FARDC), protection of local interests, control over mining areas and participation in the shifting armed politics of North Kivu. The Bwira faction presented itself as correcting Guidon’s abuses and preserving the movement’s stated ideals of peace, development, stability and the fight against FDLR. In practice, it became part of a conflict environment shaped by resource competition, alliances with FARDC officers, rivalry with the Guidon faction and later mobilization against M23.
The split followed several months of tensions within NDC-R, particularly among its leadership. Guidon had lost support from key stakeholders, especially within FARDC. Internal grievances concerned the unequal distribution of revenues from mining sites, taxation systems and monopolies over goods such as alcohol and cigarettes. Combatants and commanders accused Guidon of distributing resources according to personal preference and using the movement’s income to enrich himself and his relatives. His negative image following United Nations sanctions, the national arrest warrant issued against him, human rights abuses and the risk that these factors would obstruct integration into FARDC also contributed to the split.
NDC-R-GBS operated in areas formerly controlled by NDC-R, mainly in Walikale and Masisi territories, and later in parts of Rutshuru. The faction was initially involved in fighting around Pinga, where the confrontation with Guidon’s faction began. Its areas of activity included Matungu, Pinga, Kinyumba, Lwibo, Kishee, Kinyumba, Mwima and other locations in Masisi and Walikale where the Bwira and Guidon factions competed for control. Some of these areas were important because of gold mines, trade routes and local taxation systems.
The faction drew much of its membership from the pre-split NDC-R. The Bwira faction initially retained many of the combatants who had belonged to NDC-R before the split, especially those based in Masisi and Walikale. Many members were Nyanga, but the faction also included commanders and combatants from other communities that had been part of NDC-R’s broader structure. In August 2020, several hundred Bwira-faction combatants surrendered to FARDC, but the faction continued to operate and reorganize. The group also remained connected to broader patterns of child recruitment and use associated with NDC-R factions.
NDC-R-GBS had a structured command system inherited from NDC-R. Gilbert Bwira Chuo became commander of the movement and head of the military branch. Mapenzi Lwanche Likuhe, also known as Fidel Mapenzi, became deputy commander in charge of intelligence and operations and later strengthened his position by leading operations against Guidon and managing relations with FARDC. Philemon Bauma, also known as Poyo or Mpoyo, served as second deputy commander in charge of logistics and administration. Eugène Ndilame Talbot was identified as chief of staff. Désiré Ngabo Kisuba served as president of the Bwira faction’s political and administrative branch.
The group’s military capacity depended heavily on former NDC-R structures and on cooperation with FARDC elements. The Bwira faction received weapons and ammunition from some FARDC members and participated in FARDC operations. Mapenzi and other NDC-R leaders travelled between NDC-R areas of operation and Goma to obtain weapons and ammunition before and after the split. In the July 2020 confrontation with Guidon, Bwira-faction combatants reportedly used weapons and ammunition taken from FARDC positions. The group was therefore not simply an autonomous rebel faction but also a FARDC-linked proxy in some operations.
NDC-R-GBS cooperated closely with parts of FARDC after the split. From late 2020, Bwira-faction combatants participated in FARDC operations against APCLS in Masisi and later against CMC/FDP and FDLR in Rutshuru. FARDC also used the Bwira faction as a proxy against Guidon’s faction. Coordination meetings between FARDC and Bwira-faction leaders discussed operations, positions and the “neutralization” of the Guidon faction. The cooperation was criticized by civil society actors, who denounced FARDC support, arms supplies and abuses by the Bwira faction.
The faction’s relations with other armed groups were fluid. It fought the Guidon faction and its allies, including periods when Guidon cooperated with former enemies such as APCLS, Nyatura Abazungu and Mayi Mayi Mandaima. The Bwira faction also cooperated with Kabidon’s FPP/AP against Guidon. After the initial split, both the Guidon and Bwira factions clashed for territorial and mining control. These clashes caused killings, displacement, looting and intimidation of civilians caught between rival factions.
Bwira’s position weakened in 2021. The Bwira faction had already been reduced by surrenders, and some of its officers later switched back to Guidon. FARDC eventually lost trust in Gilbert Bwira and arrested him in September 2021. After Bwira’s arrest, Mapenzi Lwanche Likuhe became the central figure in the faction, and the group was increasingly referred to as NDC-R/Mapenzi or NDC-R/M in later sources.
In May 2022, the resurgence of M23 reshaped the armed-group landscape in North Kivu. Armed groups gathered in Pinga on 8–9 May 2022 and formed a coalition to resist M23. The meeting produced a non-aggression pact between armed groups and framed the mobilization as defence of the country and its territorial integrity. The Pinga coalition included NDC-R Guidon and other armed groups, while the Bwira/Mapenzi faction remained part of the wider armed politics that followed. In UCDP coding, NDC-R-GBS ceased to operate as a separate actor on 9 May 2022 when it joined the Alliance des résistants de la patrie (ARP), which later became part of the Wazalendo/VDP environment.
After 2022, former NDC-R-GBS/NDC-R-Bwira elements were increasingly treated within later coalition structures. In late December 2023, Mapenzi of NDC-R/Bwira joined several other armed group leaders in breaking away from VDP to form the Front commun de la résistance (FCR). The claimed objective of FCR was to address the root causes of instability and promote peaceful coexistence in eastern DR Congo, but reports also linked the breakaway to suspicions that some VDP leaders had been approached by AFC/M23 or Rwanda. In March 2025, reporting indicated that Mapenzi’s NDC-R/M shifted allegiance toward AFC/M23. By 2025, Mapenzi was described as a former Wazalendo-affiliated NDC-R/M leader who had joined AFC/M23 and commanded AFC/M23’s newly constituted Fourth Brigade.
