Sultani Makenga (born 25 December 1973) is a Congolese rebel leader and the military chief of the

March 23 Movement The March 23 Movement (), often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army (), is a Congolese Rwandan-backed rebel paramilitary group. Based in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it operates ...

(M23), a rebel group based in the eastern

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 ...

Early life and initial rebel career

Sultani Makenga was born on 25 December 1973, in the town of

Rutshuru Rutshuru is a town located in the North Kivu province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is headquarters of an administrative district, the Rutshuru Territory. The town lies in the western branch of the Albertine Rift between L ...

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 ...

province, located in the eastern part of the Congo. He is an ethnic

Tutsi The Tutsi ( ), also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu languages, Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi ( ...

. He joined the

Rwandan Patriotic Front The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi; , FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. The RPF was founded in December 1987 by Rwandan Tutsi in exile in Uganda because of the ethnic violence that had occurred during the Rwandan Hutu Revo ...

(RPF) in 1990 and fought in the

Rwandan Civil War The Rwandan Civil War was a large-scale civil war in Rwanda which was fought between the Rwandan Armed Forces, representing the country's government, and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) from 1October 1990 to 18 July 1994. The war arose ...

. Makenga also took part in several Congolese conflicts during the mid-1990s and 2000s, including the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and Second Congo Wars, and the CNDP rebellion that occurred during the first phases of the

Kivu conflict The Kivu conflict is an umbrella term for a series of protracted armed conflicts in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo which have occurred since the end of the Second Congo War. Including ...

M23 rebellions (2012-present)

Sanctions were introduced against him by the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

in November 2012. This was quickly followed by further sanctions from the United States for recruiting of

child soldiers Children in the military, including state armed forces, non-state armed groups, and other military organizations, may be trained for combat, assigned to support roles, such as cooks, porters/couriers, or messengers, or used for tactical adv ...

. He has denied that M23 used child soldiers, characterizing the accusations from those such as

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

as propaganda. He has denied accusations that the

M23 rebellion M23 rebellion or M23 campaign may refer to: * M23 rebellion (2012–2013), an armed conflict in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo * M23 campaign (2022–present), an offensive in North Kivu against the Armed Forces of the Democratic Re ...

is backed by

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 ...

. His faction of the M23 has clashed with those loyal to its political leader,

Jean-Marie Runiga Lugerero Jean-Marie Runiga Lugerero is a Congolese evangelical bishop and the former rebel leader. He served as President of the March 23 Movement (M23), a rebel group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from 2012 to 2013. He previously rejected a de ...

. In May 2013, the M23 clashed with FARDC (

Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Armed (May, 1941–1964) was an American Thoroughbred gelding race horse who was the American Horse of the Year in 1947 and Champion Older Male Horse in both 1946 and 1947. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame ...

), and there were rumors that Makenga was badly wounded. On November 7, 2013, after the M23 triumph the Congolese military backed by the UN FIB (Force Intervention Brigade), Makenga decide to retreat with hundreds of M23 fighters in

Mgahinga National Park Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a national park in southwestern Uganda. It was created in 1991 and covers an area of . Geography Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is located in the Virunga Mountains and encompasses three inactive volcanoes, namel ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It 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 ...

. He and his troops were held in a secret location. In November 2016, Makenga left a demobilization camp in Uganda, and his whereabouts became unknown. In early 2017, he tried to restart a guerilla war in the DRC with 200 men and succeeded, and some of his former militants were even hired by the Congolese government to crush protests. According to a 2024 report from the UN group of experts, he was traveling to Uganda and received active support for the M23 from the Ugandan military. In August 2024, Makenga was sentenced to death in absentia by a Congolese military court.

References

Living people Democratic Republic of the Congo politicians 1973 births People from North Kivu African warlords Tutsi people {{Africa-mil-bio-stub

Early life and initial rebel career

M23 rebellions (2012-present)

See also

References