Rebel splinter group reportedly surrendering in Bunia

Troops from a rebel splinter group, which attempted to take over the leadership of the Bunia-based Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Mouvement de liberation (RCD-ML) from Ernest Wamba dia Wamba last week, are reported to be surrendering to Ugandan troops. “The cause of the conflict was intoxication from Ugandan rebels of NALU [National Army for the Liberation of Uganda], not differences in the leadership of the movement as widely perceived,” Wamba’s press secretary Philip Mbirizi told IRIN. “The people who caused some trouble are beginning to surrender.”

The ethnically-based insecurity in Bunia’s Ituri district has been blamed on divisions within the RCD-ML leadership, which pits Wamba against two other senior officials, Atenyi Tibasima and Mbusa Nyamwisa. “Wamba dia Wamba’s leadership is being seriously challenged by Atenyi Tibasima and Mbusa Nyamwisa, who feel they have support in the area, compared to Wamba who comes from far away in Bas Congo,” a regional analyst told IRIN. “If there is no compromise, there is a danger of more factions merging, complicating the situation still further.” A diplomatic source in the region told IRIN that Uganda has deployed troops to help Wamba defeat the insurgents. “The Ugandan leadership seems to be determined to back Wamba all the way, and give him military support,” the source said. Last week, Uganda dispatched senior officials to Bunia to sort out the RCD-ML’s leadership wrangles, according to Ugandan press reports. Rebel-controlled Bunia radio meanwhile quoted Wamba as giving assurances to the population that “no blood will be shed in Bunia”.