As you know there was a meeting held on Saturday between myself, Norbert Mushenzi, the Director of the ICCN for the Northern sector of Virunga, Elie, Commander of the Advance Force, Troop Leader Balikwisha, and Ephrem, Samantha and William from WildlifeDirect.

I will tell you about this meeting, but first I must reflect on some of the decisions made before I give details on this blog. This is a sensitive issue and although I am sure there is no internet in Muramba, I must think about what information I am to make public. Thank you for your understanding.

I will however tell you more about the rebels in Muramba. It is too long that they have been able to cause such destruction here in Congo. It was previously stated on this blog that there were 40 rebels in the area, but recent intelligence has said that this figure is closer to 50. Even though the Mai Mai live outside of the law, taking food from the villagers, traditionally they have been able to settle with communities because of the promises that they make in return.

The same is so in Muramba where the Mai Mai have promised to help villagers poach freely and cultivate within the park, which is of course against the laws of Congo. They also promise to put pressure on ICCN to move the boundaries of the park, to the villagers’ advantage, even though the boundaries have been set by law since the establishment of the park, back in 1925.

More worryingly, we have also learnt that they have promised to give hippo meat to the villagers, a delicacy here. With the mass slaughter of all other hippo groups in Lake Edward at the end of the last year, the Mai Mai can only have plans to kill the hippos here in Ishango.

We have also learnt from intelligence that the situation in Muramba is about to change. Tensions are rising between the villagers and the Mai Mai because of the Mai Mai’s failure to deliver on any of their promises. The rebels have also been cutting down banana groves of the villagers for their own consumption, as well as bullying them for other food.

At the same time, they have also managed to recruit men from the surrounding area to join their rebel group, which is why previous estimates of their number has now risen, and we think that this could be for one of two reasons.

The leader of this rebel group is known as Jackson, and it is believed that he wants a larger group of men underneath him before he enters the Camp de Brassage; a government initiative to disband rebels and integrate them into the Congolese army. It is thought that he wants to do this so that when he enters the Congolese army he will have more leverage to negotiate himself into a stronger and better paid position within the army. However, the Mai Mai could also be strengthening their position to take on Nkunda’s men, who, it has been reported, has turned his back on the current mixing of his men into the Congolese army.

Whatever the situation, neither looks good for the wildlife here. Unfortunately the poaching of hippos brings in money for the rebel groups to help their cause, and this is already a tactic that they have used only too recently.

Tomorrow I will post up more on our meeting and how we are going to use your donations to strengthen our position here in Ishango.

Technorati : Congo, Ishango, Mai Mai, WildlifeDirect

Share This