Bukavu, 27 September 2012 – A Military Assessment Team from the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) visited Sud Kivu on 27 September 2012 to assess the capacities and strength of local and foreign armed groups present in that province. The military assessment team was led by General James Mwakibolwa from Tanzania.

The ICGLR team was made up of 11 members from Burundi, Republic of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, as well as the Brigade of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in Sud Kivu.

The Brigade commander at MONUSCO Brigade headquarters in Sud Kivu, General Nadir Khan, gave the Military Assessment Team a detailed presentation of the military deployment put up by MONUSCO and the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) in response to the positions and threats posed by armed groups. General Khan also informed the team about the human rights violations committed by these groups while indicating the most affected localities, and further described the measures undertaken by his brigade to prevent such threats.

In turn, MONUSCO Head of Office for Sud Kivu, Aliou Sene, presented the joint effort made by MONUSCO military and civilian components in collaboration with governmental counterparts to prevent conflicts in the province.

General Mwakibolwa commended MONUSCO for its efforts towards achieving stabilization in the province despite volatile security conditions. In his opinion, the Military Assessment team visit to Sud Kivu is a milestone in national, regional and international efforts towards bringing stabilization and peace to this region which stands at the border between the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi.

Alain Likota/ MONUSCO