Thousands Flee Northern Congo Insurgency Inspired by Mystic

By Michael J. Kavanagh

Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- As many as 168,000 people have fled an insurgency in Democratic Republic of Congo’s northern Equateur province that is inspired by a mystic who claims special power from a magic sword.

Since the Congolese army entered the area on Dec. 6, more than 93,000 civilians have crossed the Ubangi river into neighboring Republic of Congo or Central African Republic, Francesca Fontanini, the United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, said in an e-mail yesterday.

“We expect those numbers to rise,” UNHCR representative Stephan Grieb said in an interview in Impfondo, across the border in Republic of Congo, on Dec. 18.

The conflict, which originally began over fishing rights between the Enyele and Monzaya communities in Equateur, escalated when Enyele tribesman killed at least 15 policemen sent to quell the violence in October, according to witnesses interviewed in Impfondo. The conflict is stretching a government that is already dealing with three other unrelated conflicts in the east and northeast of the country.

The Enyele leader is a mystic named Udjani who claims to have a magical sword that can poison people and pass its powers to the curved machetes wielded by many of his followers, witnesses said.

Udjani’s reputation spread after his October encounter with the police in Dongo, said Dizet Kaza, a member of the rapid police intervention force who survived the ambush. Kaza almost lost both his hands in the attack.

“His magic is at the highest level,” Kaza said from his bed at the Pioneer Christian Hospital in Impfondo. “He jammed our guns so we couldn’t shoot.”

Insurgents

Udjani’s insurgents include well-armed former supporters of Jean-Pierre Bemba, the opposition candidate in Congo’s 2006 presidential election.

Bemba’s supporters clashed with President Joseph Kabila’s guards in the streets of the capital, Kinshasa, in 2007, leaving hundreds dead. Bemba is being held by the International Criminal Court on charges of leading militias who murdered and raped civilians in the Central African Republic in 2002 and 2003.

The aims and number of Udjani’s followers remain unclear. Lambert Mende, the communications minister, said last week the insurgents were “criminals” made up of demobilized soldiers.

Congolese soldiers have killed 47 insurgents, following the arrest of 28 earlier in the week near the trading town of Dongo, Agence France-Presse reported on Dec. 18, citing an unidentified UN official.

“There are many more militants arrested around Dongo, but we don’t have exact numbers at the moment,” Mende said by phone on Dec. 18.

Refugees

Udjani’s supporters patrol the Ubangi river, shooting at barges filled with people trying to escape, refugees said.

The UNHCR uses speedboats to access dozens of refugee sites along the river. They expect the situation to deteriorate as the government offensive against the insurgents continues, Grieb said in Impfondo.

Dr. Joseph Harvey, who runs the missionary hospital in Impfondo, says he has received dozens of victims wounded by gunshots and machetes and others who fell ill during their escape.

“It’s gotten pretty gruesome,” he said.

Many of the refugees fear the government’s response to the uprising, given the history of conflict between people from Equateur and supporters of President Kabila.

“When the government reacts we don’t want to be there because bullets don’t choose whom they hit,” Engondo Engoma said in a refugee settlement along the banks of the Ubangi river on the Brazzaville side.

“Their fear is unfounded,” Congolese spokesman Mende said. Since the army secured Dongo town on Dec. 13, the government has been helping people access health care and food, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Kavanagh in Johannesburg at mkavanagh9@bloomberg.net