Mutambala

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A large crowd of Babwari and Babembe women in the Mutambala sector celebrating Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary's 2018 presidential election campaign.

Mutambala (or M'tambala) is a sector that constitutes one of the four sectors in the Fizi Territory of the South Kivu Province in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mutambala is situated near Lake Tanganyika, in the west by the Lulenge sector, in the north by the Tanganyika sector, and in the south by the Ngandja sector. It has a surface area of 776 km 2. The sector consists of five groupings (groupements), including Basimukindje (in the center), Batombwe (in the south), and Babwari (in the east).[1][2][3]

Agriculture is a significant economic activity in the region; it is revenue-generating for farmers. It is geared towards self-sufficiency but also generates profit through SOCODEFI, an agricultural organization that sells cassava to Baraka. Local food crops include cassava, palm oil, rice, maize, beans, banana, tomato, yam, peanut, sweet potato and sugarcane.[4][5][6] In addition to agriculture, fishing constitutes another important source of income in the sector. It is practiced in Lake Tanganyika in traditional fishing (small canoes, hooks, small nets) and artisanal fishing (motorized canoes, fishing nets). Although fishing is a significant activity in the sector, there is no industrial fishing; men and women are involved in commercializing or selling fish in the market.[6][7]

History

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The Mutambala was inhabited by the Mbuti people, who practiced hunting and food-gathering as an essentially nomadic way of life. Incidentally, the Bembe people were established in the region, which on several occasions was incorporated by the colonial administration in the territories of Fizi or Mwenga. There were also a small number of Lega, Babwari, Babuyu and Nyindu and small lineages established within the area. The Belgian colonial administration later established Mutambala as a sector alongside Itombwe, Lulenge, Ngandja, and Tanganyika.[8][9][10][11]

In the mid-twentieth century, the region housed many cattle-herding Banyarwanda, who have been leading their herds towards Itombwe.[12] The region experienced another influx of immigrants from Burundi in 1972 during the Great Calamity, a series of mass killings against the Hutu populace by the Tutsi-dominated army and government after the advent of Michel Micombero. Parenthetically, the region hosted a second wave of immigrants following the displacement of Burundians in 1976–77. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Zairean government organized the influx of immigrants from the Ruzizi Plain to the Fizi territory in Mutambala sector.[13][14][15][16]

Security problems (1996 to present)

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Since the First Congo War, Mutambala has been in the throes of conflict. Like the Uvira and Mwenga territories, the Mutambala sector has a reputation as a stronghold of armed groups. The Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo (AFDL) took off from Fizi in October 1996 to overthrow President Mobutu’s regime on 17 May 1997. The insurgency conducted mass killings of Hutu refugees as well as Zairian civilians in Atanga, Baraka, Alùndja, Banyalinga, Alùlo, and Alèlè villages in the Mutambala sector. The forests and plateaus of Mutambala were for a long time the scrub of the head of the AFDL, Laurent Désiré Kabila.[14][17][18][19][20]

In recent years, there has been an abundance of armed groups: FRF (Forces Republicaines Federalistes), RCD-Goma (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie-Goma), Ngumino, Twigwaneho and Red-Tabara. Reputed mono-ethnic and populated by the Banyamulenges, these armed groups have provoked a rebuttal in the leadership of other ethnic communities. Thus, each community, for its safety, has preferred to have its own armed group: Mai-Mai Malaika (Bangubangu), Mai-Mai Yakutumba (Bembe); Mai-Mai Biloze Bishambuke (Fuliiru and Nyindu); Mai-Mai Kibukila Mbilizi (Lega), Mai-Mai Yalinda (Bembe); the armed group Ebuhali (Bembe).[21]

In April 2010, two civilians were reportedly robbed and seriously wounded by gunfire from armed groups in Mukera Kasonge, a town located 30 kilometers north of Fizi-center.[22] On 23 March 2015, Mai-Mai faction of William Yakutumba attacked a FARDC (Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo) military position in Lubishako, near the Ngandja forest. The attack resulted in three deaths, and the attackers also raped the soldiers' wives.[23] In December 2017, two civilians were injured by gunfire in the village of Swima during a dispute between the local population and a FARDC soldier. In the nearby village of Kikwena, located near Baraka, a FARDC soldier was shot dead by suspected militiamen from Mai-Mai Yakutumba.[19] This marked the third time in one month that FARDC positions were attacked in the villages of Kikwena and Lweba in the Mutambala sector. These bandits were identified as youths from the local community, who were known for engaging in robberies along National Highway 5.[19] Previously, a FARDC response in these villages had been condemned by local civil society, which reported arbitrary arrests of the youths, some of whom were affiliated with Mai-Mai Yakutumba.[19] Civil society also condemned an incident in Swima, where a confrontation between a school prefect and a drunken soldier escalated. After the soldier refused to yield the road, an argument ensued, drawing a crowd. In a fit of rage, the soldier opened fire on bystanders, injuring two people. The wounded individuals were evacuated to Bukavu by the ICRC, while the whereabouts of the soldier remain unknown.[19] On 12 August 2020, clashes between Twirwaneho and Mai-Mai Ebuela in the Mulima region, located 90 km west of Baraka in the middle plateaus of the Mutambala sector, resulted in the alleged theft of 600 cows.[24]

On 8 March 2022, Emerite Tabisha, the deputy mayor of Baraka, called on the local community of Baraka to live in cohesion with the other community of Bibokoboko in the middle plateaux of Mutambala. The ceremony was held at the Lumumba arena to bring together all social strata and promote peaceful coexistence in the middle plateaux of Bibokoboko. During the launch of this consultation framework, the Babwari, the Banyamulenge from the middle plateaux and the Babembe met in Baraka, five months after the Bibokoboko crisis.[25][26][27]

Climate

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The average temperature ranges from 21 °C to 24 °C to 54 °C, with maximum daily temperatures increasing, eventually during the dry season: 30 °C and 32 °C in September. Annual precipitation varies between 900 and 1200 mm depending on the location but still presents significant irregularities. The dry season, in addition, lasts five months on the coastal plain and in the mountains; it only lasts two months.[28]

References

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  1. ^ Masoka (2015). "Administration décentralisée au sud-kivu et son incidence socio-économique sur la population locale: cas du secteur de Mutambala/Fizi" [Decentralized administration in South Kivu and its socio-economic impact on the local population: the case of the Mutambala/Fizi sector] (in French). Bukavu, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Institut Supérieur de Développement Rural de Bukavu (ISDR-Bukavu). Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  2. ^ "Annexe IV: De la repartition des sieges pour l'election des conseillers de secteur ou de chefferie" (PDF). Ceni.cd (in French). Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Independent National Electoral Commission. 20 September 2018. p. 366. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Carte géographique de la zone évaluée: (Liévain Bahavu/OCHA Bukavu)" (PDF). ehtools.org. 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  4. ^ Okanya, Safi J. (13 July 2017). Waves Against the Rock: Beyond Negativity to Resilience and Strength. ISBN 9781514494844. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  5. ^ Verweijen, Judith; Brabant, Justine (March 2017). "Cows and guns. Cattle-related conflict and armed violence in Fizi and Itombwe, eastern DR Congo*". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 55 (1): 1–27. doi:10.1017/S0022278X16000823. ISSN 0022-278X. S2CID 64607292.
  6. ^ a b "Fizi Territory Democratic Republic of Congo". Helprapevictim.org. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  7. ^ Metrowich, F. R. (1979). African Freedom Annual. Southern African Freedom Foundation. p. 50.
  8. ^ Cosma, Wilungula B.; Vellut, Jean-Luc (1997). "Fizi 1967-1986: le maquis Kabila" (PDF). Institut Africain CEDAF (in French). Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  9. ^ Moeller, Alfred (1936). Les grandes lignes des migrations des Bantus de la province orientale du Congo Belge [The broad outlines of the migrations of the Bantus of Orientale province of Belgian Congo] (PDF) (in French). Belgium: G. van Campenhout. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  10. ^ African Study Monographs, Volume 11. Indiana University: Research Committee for African Area Studies. 1990. p. 101.
  11. ^ Atkins, Guy (February 1975). "Daniel Biebuyck: Lega culture: art, initiation, and moral philosophy among a central African people, xxiii, 269 pp., front., 43 plates. Berkeley, etc.: University of California Press, [1973]. $20. (English agents: IBEG Ltd. £9.50.)". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 38 (1): 227. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00048023. ISSN 1474-0699. S2CID 162855697.
  12. ^ Rukakiza, Bosco Muchukiwa. Enjeux des conflits ethniques dans les hauts plateaux d'Itombwe au Sud - Kivu (Zaïre) (in French). Tervuren, Belgium: Institut Africain CEDAF. pp. 6–7.
  13. ^ Official Records of the ... Session of the General Assembly Supplement: Issues 12-16. Iowa City, Iowa, United States: University of Iowa. 1978. p. 30.
  14. ^ a b Verweijen, Judith; Twaibu, Juvénal; Ribakare, Moïse; Bulamba, Paul; Kasongo, Freddy Mwambi (April 2021). "Mayhem In The Mountains: How Violent Conflict on The Hauts Pleateux of South Kivu Escalated" (PDF). whiterose.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  15. ^ "IRC begins resettling 1972 Burundians in U.S. - Burundi". ReliefWeb. New York, New York, United States. 30 May 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  16. ^ Lemarchand, René (27 June 2008). "The Burundi Killings of 1972". Sciencespo.fr. Sciences Po Mass Violence and Resistance. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  17. ^ https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/4187935/file/6805667
  18. ^ "First Congo War - Attacks against Tutsi and Banyamulenge civilians". Mapping-report.org. The Democratic Republic of the Congo 1993-2003 United Nations Mapping Report. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  19. ^ a b c d e "RDC: persistance de l'insécurité à Fizi" [DRC: Persistent insecurity in Fizi]. Radio Okapi (in French). 26 December 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  20. ^ Roessler, Philip (December 15, 2016). Ethnic Politics and State Power in Africa: The Logic of the Coup-Civil War Trap. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 249. ISBN 9781107176072.
  21. ^ "The CNPSC Rebellion: Social Marginalization and State Complicity in South Kivu" (PDF). Congo Research Group. February 2019. pp. 4–9. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  22. ^ "Fizi: extosion et attaques armées à Mukera" [Fizi: extortion and armed attacks in Mukera]. Radio Okapi (in French). 28 April 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  23. ^ "RDC: trois morts lors des affrontements entre FARDC et Maï-Maï Yakutumba à Fizi" [DRC: Three dead during clashes between FARDC and Maï-Maï Yakutumba in Fizi]. Radio Okapi (in French). 24 March 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  24. ^ "Sud-Kivu: 600 vaches volées lors des affrontements entre Twigwaneho et Maï-Maï Ebuela à Mutambala" [South Kivu: 600 cows stolen during clashes between Twigwaneho and Maï-Maï Ebuela in Mutambala]. Radio Okapi (in French). 12 August 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  25. ^ "Sud-Kivu: les communautés de Mutambala et de Baraka appelées à la cohésion" [South Kivu: Mutambala and Baraka communities called for cohesion]. Radio Okapi (in French). 8 March 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  26. ^ "Sud-Kivu: "Pour qu'il y ait rétablissement de la paix entre Baraka et Bibokoboko, c'est très evident d'intégrer les femmes dans des dialogues sur la cohabitation pacifique" (Émérite Tabisha Mongelwa)" [South Kivu: "For there to be a restoration of peace between Baraka and Bibokoboko, it is very clear that women must be included in dialogues on peaceful coexistence" (Émérite Tabisha Mongelwa)]. FiziNews 24 (in French). 22 March 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  27. ^ Jean-Luc M. (25 February 2019). "Sud-Kivu: les maires des nouvelles villes d'Uvira et Kamituga installés ce week-end, celui de Baraka ce lundi" [South Kivu: Mayors of the new towns of Uvira and Kamituga installed this weekend, that of Baraka this Monday]. La Prunelle RDC (in French). Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  28. ^ Jean-Paul, Mashaka Mussa (2000). l'impact de l'orpaillage artisanal sur les conditions de vie socio-économiques de la population du territoire de Fizi (in French). Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo: TFC ISDR. p. 13.