SUMMARY
The Mbole were a Bantu-speaking community primarily residing in forested and forest-savannah areas of Tshopo, Maniema and Sankuru provinces in north-eastern DR Congo (Zaire). They lived in dispersed rural villages along tributaries of the Congo River and combined small-scale farming with hunting, fishing and gathering. Households cultivated staple crops such as cassava, bananas and other foodstuffs in cleared fields, and supplemented this with hunting, fishing and gathering of forest products. Production was largely geared towards subsistence, with only limited surplus traded in local markets along rivers and roads. Access to arable land and to forest resources was therefore central to Mbole livelihoods and to their relations with neighbouring communities and local authorities.
In 2023, violence erupted between the Lengola and Mbole communities in Tshopo province over a land dispute. In February that year, the provincial government and the Lebanese-owned CAP Congo company signed a five-year agreement granting the company access to a 4000-hectare concession on the outskirts of the Lubunga district in the rural area of Kisangani. Members of the Mbole community contested this deal, accusing the Lengola of selling land that did not rightfully belong to them. In a retaliatory move, Mbole actors reportedly sought to sell to the same company part of the land cultivated by Lengola farmers, further inflaming tensions. Against this background, Mbole youth mobilized and began to target Lengola and allied communities in clashes over fields, villages and river crossings.
These Mbole militias were locally organised and operated largely at village or groupement level, but some coalesced around more visible commanders. In the Lubunga–Isangi area, a militia leader known locally as “General Dorthon” emerged as a key figure; he was described as heading the main Mbole “écurie” involved in the conflict with the Lengola. Under his and other local leaders’ influence, Mbole fighters carried out ambushes and attacks using machetes, spears, arrows and a limited number of firearms, targeting Lengola villagers in their fields and on paths to and from displacement sites, and burning houses and crops. The violence remained largely communal and locally driven.
Customary authority among the Mbole rested with lineage heads and chiefs who oversaw land allocation, mediated disputes and represented their communities with the state and external actors. These chiefs, together with educated notables and church leaders, formed the core of Mbole local leadership. In provincial dialogue and peace initiatives they acted as spokespeople for communal concerns over land, security and representation. During a peace forum held in Kisangani in December 2024, for example, Sébastien Yemi Kanga Wa Kanga represented the Mbole community.
