Bibogobogo
# Bibogobogo

Bibogobogo, also known as Bibokoboko in Kibembe, is a village in the middle plateaus of the Mutambala Sector in the Fizi Territory in the South Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is situated in the forested mountains and middle plateaus, overlooking Baraka in the south-west, near Kisombe and Bibokoboko II villages. Bibogobogo shares the borders with Uvira Territory in the North, the Mwenga Territory and Shabunda Territory in the West, the Kalemie Territory in the South, and Lake Tanganyika in the East. The regional soil is composed of metals, including sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, aluminium and mercury, making it suitable for gold plating, mercury pollution, pollution index and agriculture. Despite being rich in forest biodiversity, the region is in a state of poverty and insecurity which hampers any attempt at sustainable development. The ongoing ethnic conflict in the region continues to affect communities identified as Babembe, Bafuliiru, Babwari, Babuyu, Banyindu, Balega (Warega), Bamushi, and Banyamulenge.

## History

The area was conventionally inhabited by the Bembe people, a Bantu ethnic group that inhabits the shores of Lake Tanganyika and Fizi Territory. However, the region also contains several other ethnic groups closely intertwined with the Bembe people, including Babwari, Nyindu, Buyu, Lega and Fuliru.

In the mid-20th-century, in the Belgian Congo, migrants (Banyarwanda) from Rwanda dispersed in the area in search of greener pastures. Incidentally, the area sheltered another inflow of immigrants from Burundi during the Great Calamity in 1972 and during the displacement of Burundians in 1976–1977.

In September 1996, In the early stages of the First Congo War, confronted with growing insecurity in the territories of Fizi, Uvira and Mwenga as a result of the insurgency of the Tutsi/Banyamulenge armed units, the Forces Armées Zaïroises (FAZ) carried out several operations against the various armed groups and militias operating in the North and South Kivu Province. During these campaigns, the FAZ committed multiple acts of violence against Banyamulenge populations. According to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), the Banyamulenge population of Bibogobogo village was subjected to a mass manumilatari arrest by FAZ soldiers. Consequently, over 700 people were taken to Baraka prison where men, women and children were parked in separate sheds. The victims were accused of being in contact with Banyamulenge/Tutsi-infiltrated armed units.

## The current issue of insecurity

Following nearly three decades of violence, Bibogobogo still suffered significant problems of insecurity. The combination of persistent armed conflict, massive population displacement, non-existent infrastructure, and widespread deterioration of productive assets has significantly affected food security in Bibogobogo. Furthermore, in both the northern and southern sectors of the village, recurring warfare and ethnic tensions further intensify the prevailing sense of insecurity.

The recent clashes in Bibogobogo pit the Twiganeho-Makanika militia, composed predominantly of Banyamulenge combatants, against the Mai-Mai Mutetezi, primarily consisting of Babembe fighters. The commanding figure of the Twigwaneho-Makanika faction is Colonel Michel Rukundo Makanika, an army deserter who, along with a contingent of Banyamulenge soldiers, established themselves as an insurgent group, fiercely defending the interests of the Banyamulenge people in the rugged Fizi highlands of South Kivu. Additionally, the Mai-Mai of Ebuela Mtetezi comprises Bembe commanders who previously commanded their own factions. In February 2010, a minimum of five instances of armed attacks were reported along the route from Baraka to Bibogobogo. These attacks involved operatives from both the Mai-Mai rebel group and the Banyamulenge rebel group. The armed assaults resurfaced in June 2020, causing the distressing displacement of approximately 1,500 families of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Fizi, leaving them in an extremely precarious predicament.

### 2021 Incident

On October 15, 2021, Mai-Mai Mutetezi and Mai-Mai Biloze Bishambuke attacked Twiganeho-Makanika, who shelled their strongholds from the villages of Mugorore, Mugono, Bivumu, and Bibogobogo in the vast expanse of Fizi Territory. The Mai-Mai Mutetezi and the Bilozi Bishambuke captured 40 Twiganeho, as well as looting the village, absconding with a substantial herd of a hundred bovines, and ruthlessly claiming the lives of the locals. In addition, Mai-Mai Biloze Bishambuke and Mai-Mai Mutetezi claim to have attacked the villages of Bibogobogo to stifle the ambition of the Ngumino/Twigwaneho to extend their strongholds to other entities in the middle plateaus and the coast during the deployment of the FARDC (Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo). However, the Twiganeho militiamen deny these allegations, instead asserting that the Mai-Mai attacks are motivated by a sinister agenda of "ethnic cleansing." Contrary to this claim, Dieudonne Kasereka, the spokesperson for the army in South Kivu Province, maintains that these are not acts of "ethnic cleansing," but rather confrontations between the Twiganeho and Mai-Mai combatants.

Kasereka stated:

   "It is the armed groups of the Mai-Mai Biloze Bishambuke against the Twigwaneho who are fighting in the Maguga village near Bibokoboko. These armed groups began their hostilities since the morning of this Wednesday. We learn that some villages have been burned on both sides, on the Biloze side and on the Twigwaneho side. The FARDC strongly condemn this action. We have dispatched the soldiers who are on their way to try to track down these outlaws who continue to sow desolation among the population".

Since November 2021, armed groups have intensified attacks in Bibokoboko village. As a result, more than a thousand displaced people fled to Baraka in November 2021. However, the displaced returned to their environment in late December 2021 after establishing a temporary base for the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in the region.

