UnfilteredBrush : The Burundian army in the DRC – between security challenges and commercial exploitation

Uvira has fallen! Almost two weeks ago, as the AFC/M23 advanced from city to city in the DRC, a strange excitement reigned in Bujumbura, Burundi’s commercial capital. Listening to the passionate debates, one would have thought that Uvira, a key city in South Kivu, had become a Burundian province. Some self-proclaimed “patriots” asserted, with disconcerting certainty, that the city would never fall into the hands of the M23. But beyond the pronouncements, the reality on the ground is grim. The rebels announced their withdrawal from the city, but loyalist forces and their allies have not yet returned to Uvira since December 18, the day of the rebels’ complete withdrawal. The fate of this Congolese city now seems inextricably linked to Burundi’s national security.

A war economy at the expense of the troops

Just three years ago, coffee and tea were the pillars of our economy. Today, a new “industry” has captivated the elite : war. The Congolese battlefield has become the preferred hunting ground for young men sent against their will into an inter-Congolese conflict. A war that resembles the new cash cow for some Burundian leaders.

For three years, elements of the Burundi National Defense Force (FDNB) have been deployed in the Congolese inferno. Aligned alongside the FARDC, the Wazalendo militias, and, according to several sources, nebulous alliances with the FDLR, their official mission is to stop the M23. But many critics denounce a “dollarization” of the conflict. Where the country once relied on its tea and coffee exports, it now seems to profit from exporting its military force. This defense-driven mercantilism benefits a political and military elite more than regional security.

On the ground, the human cost is heavy. Burundian soldiers, often young and ill-prepared for the complexities of this asymmetric warfare, find themselves on the front lines. Reports of captures and casualties are multiplying, starkly contrasting with official pronouncements.

As the war drags on, the conclusion is bitter : behind the symbols of sovereignty and the drums of war, the Congolese conflict is becoming a lucrative enterprise for certain leaders, leaving the soldiers to pay the ultimate price. While the drum of patriotic pride resounds in Bujumbura, it mainly drowns out the sound of greenbacks circulating in the upper echelons, enriching an oligarchy at the expense of the military.

Until next time!