Uvira (DRC) : a Mai-Mai leader who collaborates with Burundian authorities arrested

The self-proclaimed general Kapapa of the Mai-Mai was arrested this Saturday afternoon. The Congolese army arrested him at the Kiliba Ondes border between Burundi and the DRC. He had with him a sum of 15 thousand dollars which he had just recovered in Burundi. This rebel who collaborates with the Burundian authorities, his group serving as scouts for the members of the youth league of the CNDD-FDD party and the army that will fight the Burundian armed groups based in South Kivu in particular, is suspected of having ordered several kidnappings and assassinations in the Rusizi plain, according to the local civil society. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The self-proclaimed General Kapapa was apprehended coming from Burundi, according to witnesses. It is soldiers from the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) that arrested him.

Local residents and the local civil society are delighted with his questioning.

“We are satisfied with the arrest of Kapapa. We ask our authorities to bring him to justice as soon as possible so that he can answer for his actions […]”, Mafikiri Mashimango, the civil society coordinator in Uvira, told SOS Médias Burundi.

In the center of Bwegera, residents who remember the kidnappings carried out by the Mai-Mai Kapapa faction say they hope that he will be punished for his actions. They indicate that “the hostages were released after payment of several sums of dollars.”

The Maï-Maï Kapapa also kidnapped many people on the Bukavu-Uvira road, underlines Charles
Kanyekongo, secretary of the chiefdom of the Rusizi plain.

Collaboration with the Burundian authorities

The self-proclaimed General Kapapa was collaborating with the Burundian authorities, according to local sources in South Kivu.

“His group is among the local militias that are helping the Burundian military and the Imbonerakure (members of the ruling party’s youth league) to find the positions of the Burundian FNL rebels of General Nzabampema and Red Tabara. The Mai-Mai are in somehow, the scouts or guides of the Burundians on the ground”, indicate our sources.

It is not yet clear whether the money Kapapa had on him constitutes remuneration from the Burundian authorities or if the sum had been paid to him by a family of a hostage who lives in Burundi. A spokesperson for the Congolese army in South Kivu was not available to answer our questions.

It has been more than six months since another self-proclaimed general of the Mai-Mai, namely Kijangala Magambo, until this period at the head of the Mai-Mai Kijangala, surrendered to the FARDC. Like Kapapa, he is also suspected of having kidnapped and killed several civilians and looted hundreds of cows belonging mainly to members of the Banyamulenge community.

The Burundian authorities have always denied their collaboration with local militias on the Congolese soil where the small East African nation has officially had two contingents since August 2022, one contingent deployed as part of the regional force of the EAC and another which is there in the bilateral framework between the Burundian and Congolese governments. Elements of the FDNB (Burundi National Defense Force) occupy areas located in the provinces of South Kivu and North Kivu in the east of the DRC.