Bertrand Bisimwa
Bertrand Bisimwa, formerly the M23 rebels’ civilian spokesperson, who signed the Nairobi “declaration” on behalf of the rebel group, was appointed its new leader in March after the former leader, Bishop Jean Marie Runiga, was forced out of the leadership.
Bisimwa was an ally of the ousted M23 president Bishop Jean Marie Runiga. He joined the outfit in April 2012 after the rebels declared their opposition to the Congolese government for failure to honour an agreement signed on March 23, 2009.
In early November, Bisimwa called on his fighters to lay down their arms and give the Kampala peace process a chance.
A little known personality within DR Congo politics, Bisimwa was basically a beneficiary of the falling out within the M23 that pitted Bishop Jean Marie Runiga against Sultani Makenga, the former commander of the M23.
On February 28, this year, forces loyal to Bishop Runiga and warlord Bosco Ntaganda — who has since been taken to the ICC to face war crime charges — attacked the M23 rebels’ base at Cyanzu in DRC but were repulsed.
Bishop Jean Marie Runiga
Jean Marie Runiga was a bishop for 24 years before becoming the president of M23. He is a former spokesperson of the anti-corruption bureau of the DRC and his incorporation was important in giving the M23 outfit credibility in Kinshasa.
At the beginning of the rebellion, Bishop Runiga called on the international community to investigate the atrocities that have occurred in Goma in the past, warning that the region could slide into chaos similar to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
In March 2013, Bishop Runiga was thrown out of the M23 after being accused of treason and diversion of M23 funds to forces loyal to warlord Bosco Ntaganda. He would later take refuge in Rwanda with some fighters from his faction.
Sultani Makenga
Sultani Makenga, who hails from North Kivu, and who, together with a band of M23 fighters surrendered to Ugandan troops in November, has been the military leader of M23 since the beginning of the movement in April 2012. He was part of the Rwanda Patriotic Front in 1990 fighting to oust the late president Juvenal Habyarimana.
Makenga was also a member of the National Congress for the Defence of the People, (CNDP) which fought the government for five years before signing a peace deal in March 2009.
Bosco Ntaganda
Bosco Ntaganda, nicknamed “Terminator” for his penchant for frontline action, is believed to have been the founder of M23, given that the rebellion started when President Joseph Kabila ordered his arrest.
Ntaganda is the former right hand man of Laurent Nkunda, whose CNDP was fighting the Congo government before it entered into a peace agreement in March 2009.
Ntaganda was born in 1973 in Kiningi, a small town on the foothills of Rwanda’s Virunga mountain range. He fled to eastern DR Congo as a teenager, following attacks on fellow ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda.
In 1990, at the age of 17, he joined the Rwandan Patriotic Front rebels in southern Uganda. He fought, under the command of RPF leader — Paul Kagame — to end the genocide.
After Rwandan unrest spilled over into DR Congo, he started to flip between fighting rebellions and serving in national armies — both Rwandan and Congolese.
He is currently facing charges at the International Criminal Court.
Source: The East African
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