Pourquoi Mourir Au Kivu
Pourquoi Mourir Au Kivu
Pourquoi Mourir Au Kivu
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Pourquoi mourir au Kivu?
Abstract
This article discusses the intricacies of Kivu politics as well as the behav-
iour of the Congolese political class and their impact on the current crisis
in Kivu, the heart of the Congolese conflict. The central argument is that,
by having been instrumentalized by Mobutu for a long time, most of lead-
ers were ill-placed to fight for Kivu. Mobutu's camp, the opposition, and
the commanding body of the National Army alike were hindered by self-
interests, past alliances with Tutsi in Mobutu's regime, and, in particular,
the 1993 anti-Hutu coalition. On the one hand, a good number of Kivu
leaders worked towards their own submission by supporting the Tutsi-led
war against the Hutu in September-October 1996. On the other hand,
leaders from other provinces behaved as if they were not concerned by the
war in Kivu between September 1996 and February 1997. Their position is
epitomized in title of this article: "Why should we die in a Kivu war?"
Only when Laurent-Disire Kabila and his Tutsi backers "landed softly"
in Kinshasa in May 1997, and when the AFDL government was set up, did
it become clear that the stake of the 1996 war was not only the removal of
Mobutu from power but also - and mainly - the reshaping of the state's
structure and political order in the country by foreign-led forces. In both
cases, the two groups of leaders (Kivu natives and their fellow country-
men) recognized later and at different times that they had played the
game of dupe by giving a boost to the occupation of the country by
Ugandan, Rwandan, and Burundian armies.
Le titre de cet article est pris dans une declaration faite en lingala "natika
makila na ngai na Kivu mpo na nini?" (Litteralement: que je laisse mon
sang au Kivu! Pourquoi?) par les militaires du Zaire pour justifier leurs
d6sertion et refus de combattre les troupes de 1'AFDL et leurs allies aux
fronts du Kivu en octobre 1996.
35
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36 CJAS / RCEA 36:1 2002
Introduction
L'avinement de Joseph Kabila A la tete de la R6publique
Democratique du Congo (RDC) en janvier 2001 en a surpris plus
d'un. Illustration des manoeuvres politiques en cours en RDC et
dans la r6gion des Grands Lacs d'Afrique, cet 6venement
s'inscrirait dans un schema qui, concoct6 de l'ext6rieur, a port6 au
pouvoir Joseph-Desir6 Mobutu en 1960 et son "tombeur," Laurent-
D6sir6 Kabila, en 1997. Dans ces conditions, l'attitude ambiguE du
leadership congolais dans ce qu'il convient d'appeler "l'affaire du
Kivu" 6tait ineluctable. Cette ambiguit6 est le r6sultat de toute
une longue periode de compromission: Compromission dans les
errements et les extravagances du regime Mobutu d'abord,
compromission dans le combat politique pour la democratie
ensuite.
Cette realit& n'est pas pass e inapergue. Par exemple, Feu Mgr.
I'Arch6veque de Bukavu, Christophe Munzihirwa, l'a decri e dans
sa lettre pastorale du 22 aoiit 1995. En r6agissant A la decision du
gouvernement Mobutu-Kengo d'expulser manu militari plus de
10 000 refugies Hutu du Kivu vers les griffes de Paul Kagame au
Rwanda sans se soucier de leur s6curit6, il exprimait la crainte de
son Eglise de voir les autorit6s du pays "vendre meme des Zairois
comme le faisaient aux si cles passes de l'esclavagisme, certains
roitelets de la cote atlantique" de l'Afrique. Un regard retrospectif
sur ce qui se passe aujourd'hui six ans apres, au Congo-Kinshasa,
rend actuelle la pertinence de ces propos. Cet article prend son
point de vue comme hypothese de base et discute les faits qui
placent les 6lites zairoises / congolaises au centre du drame que
vivent les populations du Kivu depuis plus d'une decennie. Il
s'ouvre par l'identification des signes qui sont suffisamment
rv6lateurs quanta la complicit6 des leaders congolais dans la
guerre d6clench6e en septembre et octobre 1996 et dont les
principales cibles 6taient les Hutu,1 Mobutu, ses proches parents
et allies. II chemine ensuite vers l'analyse de cette complicit6 ou,
de mani re plus gendrale, de la "responsabilit6 locale." Celle-ci est
evalu6e ~ la lumi re de trois grilles de lecture des 6venements, que
nous avons intitulkes la crise de leadership au Kivu, la combine de
l'opposition (anti-Mobutu et anti-Kabila) en general et le
mercenariat de "I'Arm"e Nationale" ou r6guliere que certains
appelent carrrment "l'arm e de Mobutu" pour faire allusion ~ la
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Mararo: Pourquoi .mourir au Kivu? 37
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38 CJAS / RCEA 36:I 2002
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Mararo: Pourquoi mourir au Kivu? 39
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40 CJAS / RCEA 36:I 2oo2
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Mararo: Pourquoi mourir au Kivu? 41
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Mararo: Pourquoi mourir au Kivu? 43
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60 CJAS / RCEA 36:I 2002
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64 CJAS / RCEA 36: oo2002
Conclusion
N'ei^t ete la complicite interne, la guerre expansionniste des Tutsi
au Congo n'aurait pas atteint le stade actuel. De l'alliance
politique au sein du "systhme MPR" A l'opposition anti-Mobutu et
anti-Kabila, les compromissions ont ete nombreuses. Dans le
premier cas, les liens avec le clan Bisengimana et les reseaux
connexes ont emprche les leaders zairois /congolais de traiter
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Mararo: Pourquoi mourir au Kivu? 65
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Mararo: Pourquoi mourir au Kivu? 67
Notes
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68 CJAS / RCEA 36:I 200oo2
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Mararo: Pourquoi mourir au Kivu? 69
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70 CJAS / RCEA 36:1 2002
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Mararo: Pourquoi mourir au Kivu? 71
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72 CJAS / RCEA 36:1 2oo02
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Mararo: Pourquoi mourir au Kivu? 73
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74 CJAS / RCEA 36:I 200oo2
Bibliographie
Amisi, G. 1963. "La verite sur l'action imperialiste au Kivu." Remarques
congolaises, no.13, 30 mars.
Andriamirado, Sennen. 1996. "La guerre au Kivu." Jeune Afrique, no.1870,
6-12 novembre.
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Mararo: Pourquoi mourir au Kivu? 75
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76 CJAS / RCEA 36:1 2oo02
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Mararo: Pourquoi mourir au Kivu? 77
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78 CJAS / RCEA 36:I 200oo2
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