Bukavu

Nope, they are not.

Um, they are actively engaged in reconstructing local infrastructure in areas like Bukavu.

Right, which signals an attempt to transition from a purely kinetic military force into a parallel governing authority.

I mean, they are attempting to normalize their territorial control in the eyes of the local populace.

[upbeat music] Hello, I'm Blessing Aderopa and today on Focus on Africa, a new rebel coalition including the M23 is taking shape in eastern DRC and it's being led by former Congolese President Joseph Kabila as questions remain over their mission.

Is this a rebellion that is purely trying to solidify the gains they've made in the east, in North and Kivu? They control the two major cities, Goma and Bukavu.

Or is this a rebellion that has aspirations of pushing beyond?

And should the state have the power to take a life? Africa's Human Rights Commission is calling for a renewed push to abolish the death penalty even as some countries expand its use.

I think that's one of the biggest questions that we have right now.

It's one of the biggest concerns that we have at Human Rights Watch as well with regards to civilians and how they might be affected.

Is this a rebellion that is purely trying to solidify the gains they've made in the east, in North and Kivu? They control the two major cities, Goma and Bukavu.

Or is this a rebellion that has aspirations of pushing beyond? The first logical step would be moving to what was then the Katanga province.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo's former president Joseph Kabila has been named as the leader of a new coalition of rebel groups aiming to remove the government.

The most powerful rebel group in the alliance is M23, which last year took control of large parts of eastern DRC, including the large cities of Goma and Bukavu.

In a video with M23 leaders, Joseph Kabila declared that the new organisation, called Front for the Refoundation of the Nation, would overthrow the government of President Felix Tshisekedi.

Rwanda is going to host the first Formula One race in Africa in over 30 years.

Second is infrastructure, physical infrastructure and digital infrastructure.

So we're financing a highway between Bujimahi and Bukavu.

I think the 21st kilometers of that two by two highways are already built and we are hoping to deliver 280 kilometers in the next couple of years between Bujimahi and Banga.

We are investing in physical infrastructure, but as we invest in physical infrastructure, we are combining on other enablers.

exactly

So that's the second corridor we will be concentrating our activities around.

And the third corridor is what we call the peace corridor between Bujimahi and Bukavu.

So linking the center to the east, or if you look at it differently, is finally opening the center to economic activity from the

And M23 is not some ragtag militia hiding in the jungle.

This is a disciplined rebel movement that has captured enormous amounts of territory, including Goma and Bukavu, the capitals of North and South Kivu.

Behind M23 stands Rwanda.

The United States has sanctioned the Rwanda Defense Force for training, equipping, and fighting alongside the rebels, while UN investigators have documented extensive Rwandan military involvement.

Aber dann war 2025.

Da nahm die M dreiundzwanzig, eine bewaffnete Rebellengruppe, Großstädte wie Goma und Bukavu ein.

Und die DEZA blieb trotz der Rebellenpräsenz vor Ort.

Wie arbeitet eigentlich die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit in einer solch fragilen Krisenregion, wenn die Lage so volatil ist? Willkommen zu einer neuen Folge von Why Care, dem Podcast der Direktion für Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit DEZA.

Mein Name ist Don und ich bin der Host dieser deutschsprachigen Episode zum Thema "Zwischen Krisenmanagement und Entwicklungszusammenarbeit: Der Ostkongo im Fokus".

Um mehr über die Situation im Ostkongo zu erfahren, habe ich Thomas Jenatsch eingeladen.

Thomas Jenatsch ist der Leiter des Kooperationsbüros der DEZA in Bukavu und hat viele Jahre Erfahrung mit der Arbeit in sogenannten fragilen Kontexten.

Thomas, schön bist du bei uns aus Bukavu zugeschaltet.

And so severely wounded and temporarily paralyzed, he was evacuated by his men on a commandeered DC-3 transport aircraft to Rhodesia.

Deprived of Denard's tactical direction, Schremme's forces retreated east to the border city of Bukavu on Lake Kivu, and Schremme would hold Bukavu against overwhelming ANC numbers for three months before he was forced to withdraw across the Rwandan border under Red Cross mediation in November of 1967.

Yeah.

Demonstrating his absolute insane operational style, Denard partially recovered, and in November of 1967, he launched a diversionary raid, crossing the Angolan border into Katanga with only 16 European mercenaries mounted on, and I'm not kidding with this, bicycles.

Maybe he wanted to go anyway.

But we end up in 2013 in a women's hospital in Bukavu.

And I'm in the operating room with a gynecologist who is, who's treated 10,000 women for this rare condition that we don't even have here called fistula.

So these women The lion's share fistula is due to obstructed labor.