SUMMARY
The non-state conflict between Mayi Mayi Kirikicho, Raia Mutomboki Butachibera and Raia Mutomboki Hamakombo on one side, and Nyatura Nduhuye on the other, took place in Kalehe territory, South Kivu, particularly in and around Kahuzi-Biega National Park. The fighting was rooted in long-standing tensions between Tembo and Hutu communities in the Kalehe highlands, especially around land, customary authority, access to forest areas and control of gold mining sites. Nyatura Nduhuye mobilized among local Congolese Hutu communities and maintained a base around Katasomwa and Chanje, while Mayi Mayi Kirikicho and the Raia Mutomboki factions were linked to Tembo self-defence mobilization. The conflict escalated in a broader context of weak state authority, armed-group competition in the park and the reconfiguration of armed groups after the arrival and dispersal of CNRD elements in Kalehe.
The armed groups framed their mobilization in terms of community defence. Nyatura Nduhuye claimed to protect Hutu populations, while the Tembo-linked Mayi Mayi and Raia Mutomboki groups presented themselves as defending their communities and land against Hutu-linked armed mobilization and perceived encroachment. The conflict was therefore not based on a national political programme, but on local security claims, land disputes, and competing control over mining and forest resources.
The fighting consisted mainly of localized armed clashes, attacks on positions, ambushes and retaliatory violence in and around villages and mining areas. Incidents were repeatedly reported around Katasomwa, Kimoto/Kilimoto and Mushunguti. The Raia Mutomboki factions, especially Butachibera and Hamakombo, and Mayi Mayi Kirikicho were generally associated with Tembo-linked mobilization, while Nyatura Nduhuye was associated with the Hutu side of the conflict. Both sides used small-unit attacks in difficult forest terrain, and the violence affected civilians through displacement, killings, illegal taxation, and insecurity around fields, villages and mining sites. The conflict intensified in April 2021, when violence around Katasomwa and Mushunguti became part of wider Hutu-Tembo intercommunity clashes in Kalehe.
The non-state conflict between Mayi Mayi Kirikicho, Raia Mutomboki Butachibera and Raia Mutomboki Hamakomobo, and Nyatura Nduhuye is first included in UCDP data in 2021. In April of that year, violent clashes escalated around Katasomwa and Mushunguti in Kalehe territory, resulting in over 25 deaths.
