The Mai Mai Kifuafua movement refuses to hand over its weapons until the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) guarantees safety in North Kivu.
Didier Bitaki, the head of the Mai Mai Kifuafua movement in the Walikali region, in the North Kivu province in eastern DRC, said he will not disarm until the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government guarantees that it will safeguard the civilians that his 2,800 member group currently protects.
The government has asked that this militia group hand over their weapons to the national administration’s peace effort program. The DRC government has launched the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program in coordination with the United Nations Mission to the DRC (MONUSCO) that advocates for militia groups to turn in their arms and to be re-integrated into civil society.
“We could not leave our people [to] be killed by FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) and other groups. So, it is very simple, if the government guarantees security to our population in Walekale and other areas, there is no reason to [prevent] my troops from joining the government,” Bitaki said.
He went on to say, “The constitution says that everybody has a right to defend himself whenever he is threatened by foreign or forces that will [create] danger for his life… So when we saw that our families are being threatened by rebel forces from Rwanda and from [other places] we said that we should protect ourselves because of the FARDC [Congolese army] were not able to do so. So that is the reason why the group exists.”
Bitaki also suggested that the government send the Congolese army to the Walekale territory, where his militia currently operates, in order to assure the Mai Mai Kifuafua that the national government was serious about providing security to the region.
Telesur TV
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