The term Mai-Mai or Mayi-Mayi refers to any kind of community-based militia group active in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

(DRC) that is formed to defend local communities and territory against other armed groups. Most were formed to resist the invasion of Rwandan forces and

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

. Groups that fall under the umbrella term "Mai-Mai" include armed forces led by warlords, traditional tribal elders, village heads and politically motivated resistance fighters. Because Mai Mai have only the most tenuous internal cohesion, different Mai-Mai groups allied themselves with a variety of domestic and foreign government and guerrilla groups at different times. The term Mai-Mai refers not to any particular movement, affiliation or political objective but to a broad variety of groups. The name comes from the Swahili word for water, '' maji''. Militia members sprinkle themselves with water to protect themselves from bullets.E.F. Kisangani, S.F. Bobb
Historical Dictionary of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
/ref> Mai-Mai were particularly active in the eastern Congolese provinces bordering Rwanda,

North Kivu North Kivu () is a Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population esti ...

and

South Kivu South Kivu (; ) is one of Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital city, capital is Bukavu. Located within the East African Rift's western branch Albertine Rift, it is ...

(the " Kivus"), which were under the control of the Rwanda-allied Banyamulenge-dominated rebel faction, the Congolese Rally for Democracy–Goma (RCD-Goma) during the

Second Congo War The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted ...

. While militias have long been common in the Kivus, particularly among the minority Batembo and Babembe ethnic groups, the recent wars and conflicts caused large numbers of town dwellers to form Mai-Mai. Although the Mai-Mai, either as a group or as individual groups, were not party to the 1999 Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, which was meant to end the Second Congo War, they remained one of the most powerful forces in the conflict, and the lack of co-operation from some groups has been problematic for the peace process.

Mai-Mai in North and South Kivu

According to a 2001 UN report, 20,000 to 30,000 Mai-Mai were active in the two Kivu provinces. The two most powerful and well-organized Mai-Mai groups in the Kivus were led by Generals Padiri and Dunia. Currently most active is a group which is called Mai-Mai Yakutumba, was organized in 2007 by General Yakutumba. They were reported to have received aid from the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and are widely viewed by other Mai Mai groups as the leaders, though not the commanders, of the Kivu Mai-Mai. A number of smaller Mai-Mai groups, such as the Mudundu 40/ Front de Résistance et de Défense du Kivu (FRDKI) and Mouvement de Lutte contre l'Agression au Zaïre/ Forces Unies de Résistance Nationale contre l'Agression de la Républíque Démocratique du Congo (MLAZ/FURNAC), were reported to cooperate with the

n military and Rally for Congolese Democracy–Goma (RCD-Goma). Walikale and Masisi north of Goma were the centres of Mai-Mai activity in North Kivu. In South Kivu, there have historically been concentrations around Walungu and Bunyakiri south of

Lake Kivu Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which ...

, around Uvira and Mwenaga at the northern end of

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

, further south around Fizi, and around Shabunda, between the Rwandan border and Kindu.

Mai-Mai in Katanga

A former leader of the Mai-Mai,

Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga Gédéon, (French language, French: ), is a French language masculine given name, derived from the prophet Gideon in the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible's Book of Judges. It is a cognate of the name Gideon. People named Gédéon include: *Géd� ...

, turned himself over to MONUC troops in May 2006. He was found guilty of numerous war crimes between October 2003 and May 2006 and was sentenced to death by the Kipushi Military Tribunal in

Katanga Province Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914. It was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Tanganyika Province, Tanganyika, Hau ...

on 6 March 2009. He escaped from prison in September 2011 and formed the Mai-Mai Kata Katanga ("Secede Katanga").

Other Mai-Mai groups

There was a large Mai-Mai presence in

Maniema Maniema Province (''Jimbo la Maniema'', in Swahili) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Kindu. The 2020 population was estimated to be 2,856,300. Toponymy Henry Morton Stanley explored the area ...

, in particular around Kindu and Kalemie. Province Orientale also hosts a number of Mai-Mai, but these groups were apparently involved in long-standing ethnic disputes. ''Mai-Mai Gedeon'' is also commanded by Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga and loosely tied to his Mai-Mai Kata Katanga. The ''Corak Kata Katanga'' also known as the Co-ordination for a Referendum on

Self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

for Katanga, composed mainly of former Katanga Tigers, a separatist group active in the 1960s. They claim to be behind the attack on the Katanga airport in February 2011. It is unclear to what extent all these groups are co-ordinated. The Nduma Defense of Congo (or Mai-Mai Sheka) was formed in 2009 by former minerals trader Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka, an ethnic Nyanga. Sheka claims the group was formed to liberate the mines of Walikale Territory in

. The NDC are accused of a mass rape of at least 387 women, men, and children over a three-day span in Walikale in 2010.

Mai-Mai in Virunga National Park

In May 2007, Mai-Mai killed two wildlife officers in

Virunga National Park Virunga National Park is a national park in the Albertine Rift Valley in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was created in 1925. In elevation, it ranges from in the Semliki River valley to in the Rwenzori Mountains. ...

and threatened to kill

mountain gorilla The mountain gorilla (''Gorilla beringei beringei'') is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN . There are two populations: One is found in the Virunga Mountains, Virunga volcanic mountains of C ...

s if the government retaliated. The Mai-Mai are also suspected of the killings of nine mountain gorillas, with the use of machetes, and automatic weapons. In an October 2012 incident, Mai-Mai killed two park staff and a soldier, while three soldiers were injured. From 1990 to 2018 some 170 Virunga Rangers have died in such attacks, according to the World Wildlife Foundation. Six Virunga Park Rangers were killed in an ambush and a seventh ranger was injured in the Central section of the reserve on 10 January 2021. Officials suspected the Mai-Mai to be behind the attacks. In June 2023, seven Virunga Park Rangers were killed by local Mai-Mai in the span of ten days.

References

External links