Divided loyalties, corruption and a complete lack of stockpile management means that the Congolese national army (FARDC) is the source of weapons for the two main opposing armed rebel groups in the bloody conflict in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A UN group of experts monitoring the arms embargo on the DRC released their latest report on 12 December.
The report shows how the Congolese army contravened the current UN arms embargo on the armed groups in the eastern region by collaborating extensively with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) during clashes against the General Nkunda-led National Congress in Defence of the People (CNDP). The CNDP are also benefiting from the army’s lack of morale and discipline. CNDP has routed the army on numerous occasions, seizing large weapon stockpiles in their defeat.
The report also illustrates how the conflict is inextricably bound up with exploitation of minerals in the resource-rich region. The Group estimates that the FDLR is reaping millions of dollars a year from trade in minerals, while the CNDP manages production at least one leading coltan mine. The Group’s report also asserts that certain national army commanders have no interest in ending the conflict as long as their units are able to profit from mining areas.
Ironically, the national army is the main source of weapons and ammunition to all rebel groups, due to largely non-existent stockpile management, corruption and the complete failure of the FARDC as an adequate fighting force. Although the report was unable to obtain definitive evidence that neighbouring countries Rwanda and Uganda were supplying arms to the rebel groups, it concluded that Rwandan authorities have been complicit in recruiting soldiers, including children to the CNDP, as well as permitting the rebels to use their telephone and banking systems.
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