SUMMARY
Repeatedly conflicts have appeared in Sud Kivu Province in the DR Congo (Zaire). Many of them have been explained by the question of identity: are Rwandophones – i.e. speakers of Kinyarwanda and Kirundi legitimate members of the Congolese nation? Between the same communities, conflicts have arisen between agriculturalists and pastoralists, especially during the transhumance period (the seasonal movement of people with their livestock). Livestock has often caused damage to the farmers’ land, thereby conflicts have evolved over the access to and control of land. Similarly local conflicts over the local governance have been intermingled into the mix. At the same time, the different ethnic groups have supported and joined different armed groups and militias in the country supporting different sides in the many conflicts over governmental power that have been ongoing in the country. Similarly different Congolese armed groups have also at times allied themselves with, Rwanda, Burundi or different Rwandan or Burundian rebel groups.
The conflict between CNPSC and Twiganeho should be understood in this context. CNPSC is a Mayi Mayi coalition including armed groups from the Babembe and Banyindu and Bafulero communities, all considered as autochtone to the region. Twiganeho is a self-defense militia from the Banyamulenge community perceived as rwandophones and foreigners to the region. In December 2017 CNPSC and Twiganeho clashed for the first time in the Bijombo groupement. The Bijombo groupement, which is part of the Bavira chiefdom in Uvira territory had been the scene of a communal conflict between Banyamulenge and Bavira, Bafulero and Banyindu over the governance of the groupement for years. In 2017, the Twiganeho self-defense militia, which had been defunct for ten years re-appeared in the Bijombo groupement due to an escalation of tit-for-tat attacks between the communities. Violence escalated further in 2018 and 2019 but this dyad did not reach the level of inclusion until 2020 when clashes between the groups escalated around Minembwe.
