Rally for Congolese Democracy
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The Congolese Rally for Democracy (french: Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie; abbreviated RCD), also known as the Rally for Congolese Democracy, is a
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
and a former rebel group that operated in the eastern region of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
(DRC). It was supported by the government of
Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
, and was a major armed faction in the
Second Congo War The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...
(1998-2003). It became a social liberal political party in 2003.


Development

In 1997
Laurent-Désiré Kabila Laurent-Désiré Kabila () (27 November 1939 – 18 January 2001) or simply Laurent Kabila ( US: ), was a Congolese revolutionary and politician who was the third President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1997 until his assassinatio ...
was installed as President of the DRC following the victory by the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (ADFL) in the
First Congo War The First Congo War, group=lower-alpha (1996–1997), also nicknamed Africa's First World War, was a civil war and international military conflict which took place mostly in Zaire (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), with major spillo ...
, with heavy support from the governments of
Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...
and
Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
. However, the ethnic tensions in eastern DRC did not disappear and Kabila grew wary of Rwandan influence in his administration. Thousands of
Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the p ...
militants who had taken part in the
Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...
and been forced to flee into the DRC maintained a low intensity war with the invading Rwandan army and their
Banyamulenge Banyamulenge, also referred to as nyamurenge and banyamurenge (literally 'those who live in Mulenge') is the name that they adopted in the 80’s describes a Tutsi community in the southern part of Kivu who migrated from Rwanda and seek refuge i ...
co-ethnics living in the Congolese provinces of North Kivu and
South Kivu South Kivu (''Jimbo la Kivu Kusini'' in Swahili), (french: Sud-Kivu) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Bukavu. History South Kivu Province was created from Sud-Kivu District in 1989, when the ex ...
. By February 1998 the Kivus were engulfed in ethnic warfare. Banyamulenge ADFL troops based in the town of
Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu pro ...
mutinied as tensions increased. The mutiny soured the relationship between Kabila and his Rwandan and Ugandan allies. In early August 1998 the newly formed RCD led by president
Ernest Wamba dia Wamba Ernest Wamba dia Wamba (; 1942 – July 15, 2020) was a prominent Congolese academic and political theorist who became a commander of the Kisangani faction of the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy during the Second Congo War.Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the ...
and began a campaign against Kabila, marking the beginning of the
Second Congo War The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...
. The RCD was formed with extensive financial, military and organizational support from Uganda and Rwanda after they grew dissatisfied with the Kabila government in the newly renamed
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
. The core of the RCD was composed of former ADFL members, including many Banyamulenge who already tended to ally themselves with Rwanda against the anti-Tutsi forces in the region. Nevertheless, the forces of the Kabila government managed to halt the RCD advance with the assistance of outside states such as
Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...
,
Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
and
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
, marking the onset of a full-scale regional conflict. The
South African Institute of International Affairs South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
reported in 1999 that former FAZ generals
Kpama Baramoto Kata Kpama Baramoto Kata (born Yakoma, 1947) was a general of the Zairian Forces Armées Zaïroises. He was Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Con ...
and General Nzimbi Ngbale Kongo wa Bassa had been responsible for mobilised 30,000 disillusioned FAC troops, 'garrisoned at Kitona,' to join the rebellion. During this period Congolese living in the Kivus increasingly came to view the RCD as a brutal oppressor. Rwanda had nearly complete control of the organization, while the RCD continued to increase taxation with no noticeable improvement in
infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
or basic services. The RCD's undisciplined troops, along with those of other armed groups, were also responsible for acts of brutality against the population. Kivutians also criticize the dominance of Banyamulenge.


Stalemate leads to fractures in the RCD

In 1999 the battle lines achieved a rough stalemate. At the same time, the character of the RCD changed as former supporters of
Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
and dissidents from outside the country began to join. Once it became clear that Kabila would not be overthrown, fracture lines began to appear in the organization, and Rwanda and Uganda began to struggle over who would control the RCD, and the RCD's access to natural resources such as diamonds and other valuable minerals. Tensions came into the open in May 1999 when Wamba dia Wamba left to establish a group in the town of Kisanga with the support of Uganda, apparently over a disagreement with former Mobutu supporter
Lunda Bululu Vincent de Paul Lunda Bululu (born 15 October 1942) is a Congolese former politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Zaire from 5 July 1990 to 1 April 1991. He previously served as First State Commissioner of Zaire from 4 May 1990 to 5 July 19 ...
. His organization eventually became known as the RCD-Kisangani (RCD-K), or sometimes RCD-Wamba. Dr. Emile Ilunga took over leadership of the older faction, often referred to as RCD-Goma to distinguish it from the group led by Wamba. Rwanda became the primary supporter of the RCD Goma, thereby transferring the tension between Uganda and Rwanda into their proxy rebel forces. Things came to a head when the two RCDs and their patrons met in battle in
Kisangani Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville or Stanleystad) is the capital of Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the fifth most populous urban area in the country, with an estimated population of 1,312,000 in 2021, and the larg ...
, the capital of
Orientale Province Orientale Province ( French: ''Province orientale'', "Eastern province") is one of the former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its predecessors the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It went through a series of boundary ...
, where the Ugandan army was defeated. Battles in Kisangani occurred in 1999 and 2000 (the so-called '
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...
'). Wamba retreated to Bunia, where he faced widespread discontent and revolt within his own organization as the
Ituri conflict The Ituri conflict (french: Guerre d'Ituri) is an ongoing conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). While the two groups had ...
began. Mbusa Nyamwisi rejected Wamba's leadership and took control of northern North Kivu and
Ituri Ituri is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Ituri, Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Orientale province. Ituri was ...
with the support of some Ugandan generals. Nyamwisi renamed the RCD-K the RCD-Mouvement de Libération (RCD-Movement for Liberation, RCD-ML). The Rwandan-supported RCD retained control of southern North Kivu,
South Kivu South Kivu (''Jimbo la Kivu Kusini'' in Swahili), (french: Sud-Kivu) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Bukavu. History South Kivu Province was created from Sud-Kivu District in 1989, when the ex ...
, Maniema, north Katanga, eastern Kasai, and
Kisangani Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville or Stanleystad) is the capital of Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the fifth most populous urban area in the country, with an estimated population of 1,312,000 in 2021, and the larg ...
. In 2000, Adolphe Onusumba replaced Ilunga as head of the Goma-based RCD. The new RCD leadership's authority was demonstrated after the Kinshasa offensive in November 2000 was defeated at
Pweto Pweto is a town in the Haut-Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is the administrative center of Pweto Territory. The town was the scene of a decisive battle in December 2000 during the Second Congo War which resulted ...
. This also illustrated that it was unlikely that Kinshasa would be able to retake eastern Congo militarily. Despite attempts to win the hearts and minds of the Kivutians, the continued
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
abuses and bureaucratic ineptitude ruined these efforts. The Rwandan-backed RCD continued to be the primary Tutsi force aligned with Rwanda and Burundi. Rwanda appeared to decide that maintaining a sphere of influence in the Kivus through proxy forces is in its best interests. This is similar to the policy that Uganda had decided upon several years earlier.


Other RCD factions

*RCD-Authentique (RCD-A) *RCD-Congo: Faction of RCD-Goma led by that broke off in June 2002 *RCD-National (RCD-N): Ugandan-backed rebel group led by
Roger Lumbala Roger Lumbala (born 1958) is an MP in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, representing the Rally of Congolese Democrats and Nationalists. He is a former rebel leader who was backed by Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. Th ...
that split from the RCD-K/ML and is now allied with the MLC *RCD-Originel (RCD-O)


Peace process and elections

The
Second Congo War The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...
ended in 2003 with an agreement that created a
transitional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...
leading to elections. Azarias Ruberwa became one of four vice-presidents and the main RCD faction held 94 out of 500 seats in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
. The general elections in 2006 saw Ruberwa come fourth in the presidential vote, with only 1.7% of the vote. However the RCD gained 15 seats in the new 500-seat Assembly. In the 19 January 2007
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
, the party won 7 out of 108 seats. Nyamwisi's RCD-K-ML renamed itself the Forces for Renewal. In 2007 Belgian IPIS researchers examined military structures and mining links in Katanga.Steven Spittaels Nick Meynen, 'Mapping interests in conflict areas: Katanga,' IPIS, August 2007, 20 They found that Nyunzu was one of the territories that was occupied by the RCD during the two Congo wars. Under RCD rule, ere were 2 military zones in Katanga. The first comprised Kalemie, Moba and Manono and fell under the control of the Kalemie brigade. Kongolo, Kabalo and Nyunzu formed the second and were occupied by the Kongolo brigade. When the Kalemie and Kongolo brigades left for ‘brassage’, the RCD structures were abandoned and all the Katangese territories fell under the command of the regional headquarters in Lubumbashi.


See also

*
Effacer le tableau ''Effacer le tableau'' (, literally "erase the board" or "clean the slate") was the operational name given to the systematic extermination of the Bambuti pygmies by rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). History The e ...
* Kivu conflict


References


External links

* {{Authority control Political parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Military units and factions of the Ituri conflict Factions of the Second Congo War Rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Social liberal parties