Bwegera

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Wikipedia

Bwegera is a village in the Bafuliiru Chiefdom in the Uvira Territory of South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bwegera has an elevation of 952 meters and is situated in the vicinity of the Kakamba and Nyaruhuhuma villages. The region It's crossed by Lake Tanganyika, providing a vital source of water and transportation for the local inhabitants. Bwegera is rich in building materials such as rubble, sand, and baked bricks, making it an ideal location for construction and development. The region also encompasses a vast rural area where agriculture, animal breeding, and fishing are the primary means of livelihood.[1][2][3]

Bwegera is inhabited by heterogeneous Fuliiru and Vira populations who share cultural similarities and practice agriculture, hunting, fishing, animal husbandry and artisanal handicraft. The region is also home to a small number of Bembe and Barundi.[4][5][6]

For over 27 years, Bwegera has been devastated and experienced pernicious violence, notably during the First and Second Congo Wars of 1996–2003, where thousands of Hutu refugees and Zairian civilians were killed, and over a million people displaced, rendering them excruciating suffering in October 1996 when AFDL (Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo-Zaïre) invaded Zaire from Rwanda.[7][8][9][10][11]

History

First Congo War

In the early stages of the First Congo War, Bwegera served as the AFDL gateway to eastern Zaire, where the AFDL troops split up into several villages and conducted widespread and systematic attacks against the eleven Hutu refugee camps and Zairian civilians.[11] With the help of the Burundian army and Banyamulenge soldiers, the AFDL troops captured and killed refugees at point-blank range who were trying to flee to the neighboring villages.[7][12]

Security problems (2008-2022)

Since the Second Congo War, insecurity in Bwegera has been fueled by an intricate web of geopolitics, ethnic and national rivalries, and the battle for control of the natural resources that abound in the east of the country.[13][9][14][15]

In 2008, two FARDC (Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo) soldiers of the 8th Integrated Brigade were killed around midday in Bwegera in the Ruzizi Plain of Uvira Territory in South Kivu.[16]

In August 2009, a vehicle carrying traders and FARDC troopers of the 8th Integrated Brigade was attacked on the route between Rubanga and Kiringye-Nyamutiri by the FDLR (Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda) insurgent group. One civilian was killed, and one FARDC soldier was wounded by gunfire. Other ambushes occurred in the same month, including one against a convoy of Operation Kimya II, near Bwegera.[17] On 27 August 2011, several people were killed after two gunfire incidents occurred in Bwegera.[18] On 30 March 2012, unidentified gunmen attacked a transit vehicle in Bwegera from Lemera in the direction of Sange, killing a passenger. The bandits subsequently stole approximately 30,000 Congolese francs (32 dollars) from the passengers.[19] On 2 July 2013, unidentified persons set fire to more than forty hectares of forest in the Bwegera and Luvungi, resulting in the disappearance of several species, including buffaloes, monkeys, and antelopes, due to scorched earth becoming infertile.[20] On 18 March 2014, a woman was shot in the stomach and an army officer was reported missing following a raid by gunmen in Bwegera. Witnesses say that the assailants entered the town at approximately 8:15 p.m. (Local time), firing shots in the air.[21] Approximately 4,000 village residents fled Bwegera after the murder.[22] On 21 April, five people were killed by unidentified gunmen in the Kakamba-Itara groupements over 70 kilometers south of Bukavu. Of these victims, the police commander based in Bwegera was killed in Kiringye, approximately ten kilometers from Sange.[23]

On 18 October 2018, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) launched a community violence reduction project in Bwegera to combat community violence in Bwegera to support the socioeconomic reintegration of ex-combatants and youth at risk of rice and pig cultivation.[24] In July 2022, nearly 90% of IDPs from the high and middle plateaus of Bafuliiru Chiefdom returned to their villages. Donat Bakuka Ngolikwenda, a commander of the national police detachment of the mobile intervention group, was dispatched with his troops to Bwegera to strengthen the security of the displaced persons who came in April 2021 from the high and middle plateaus of Uvira.[9]

Agriculture

The majority of the Bwegera village is an agricultural community and subsistence agriculture is a sustained source of revenue. Growing food crops such as cassava, beans, maize, soybeans, groundnuts, banana, sorghum, Irish potato, taro, sweet potatoes, onions, and tomatoes allow households to regain their means of existence. There's also a large livestock operation of cattle, pigs, goats, and poultry.[1][2][3]

References

  1. 1 2 Udomkun, Patchimaporn; Mutegi, Charity; Wossen, Tesfamicheal; Atehnkeng, Joseph; Nabahungu, Nsharwasi Léon; Njukwe, Emmanuel; Vanlauwe, Bernard; Bandyopadhyay, Ranajit (November 2018). "Occurrence of aflatoxin in agricultural produce from local markets in Burundi and Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo". Food Science & Nutrition. 6 (8): 2227–2238. doi:10.1002/fsn3.787. PMC 6261206. PMID 30510723.
  2. 1 2 E, Ngabo (2 June 2022). "Uvira: Deux ministres nationaux en visite du programme volontariste agricole de Bwegera". Kivu Times. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Gallery". Nabahyafoodinstitute.org. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  4. ↑ Bishwende, Augustin R.; Kwibe, Bienfait K. (9 January 2023). Le peuple Bavira: histoire, culture et identité (RDC) (in French). Paris, France: Éditions L'Harmattan. p. 6. ISBN 9782140286940.
  5. ↑ Murairi, Jean-Baptiste (2000). Cent ans de guerre à l'est du Congo-Kinshasa (1895-1998) (in French). Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Editions Yira. p. 10.
  6. ↑ Muchukiwa, Bosco (2006). Territoires ethniques et territoires étatiques: pouvoirs locaux et conflits interethniques au Sud-Kivu (R.D. Congo) (in French). Paris, France: Harmattan. ISBN 9782747598576.
  7. 1 2 "Report of the Mapping Exercise documenting the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between March 1993 and June 2003" (PDF). August 2010. p. 91 (197). Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  8. ↑ Podur, Justin (May 30, 2020). America's Wars on Democracy in Rwanda and the DR Congo. Midtown Manhattan, New York City.: Springer International Publishing. p. 367. ISBN 9783030446994.
  9. 1 2 3 "Sud-Kivu: près de 90 % de déplacés internes de Bafuliiru regagnent leurs villages" [South Kivu: Nearly 90% of internally displaced people from Bafuliiru return to their villages]. Radio Okapi (in French). 8 July 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Cooper, Tom (2013). Great Lakes Holocaust: The First Congo War, 1996-1997. Warwick, United Kingdom: Helion. p. 39. ISBN 9781909384651.
  11. 1 2 "Attacks against Hutu refugees – Uvira territory (South Kivu)". Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  12. ↑ Evans, Malcolm; Murray, Rachel, eds. (2001). Documents of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, Volume II 1999-2007. African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. ISBN 9781841130934. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  13. ↑ "Sud-Kivu: persistance de l'insécurité à Bwegera" [South Kivu: Persistent insecurity in Bwegera]. Radio Okapi (in French). 27 June 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "Uvira: les déplacés de Bwegera appellent le gouvernement à assurer leur sécurité" [Uvira: Displaced people from Bwegera call on the government to ensure their safety]. [[]Radio Okapi]] (in French). 10 June 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  15. ↑ "Sud-Kivu: trois communautés ennemies de Bwegera se réconcilient" [South Kivu: Three enemy communities in Bwegera reconcile]. Radio Okapi (in French). 27 December 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  16. ↑ "Bwegera : deux militaires tués à midi en pleine cité". Radio Okapi (in French). 2008-04-17. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  17. ↑ "Uvira: les embuscades se multiplient contre les FARDC dans la plaine de la Ruzizi et dans les moyens plateaux" [Uvira: Ambushes against the FARDC are increasing in the Ruzizi plain and in the middle plateaus]. Radio Okapi (in French). 3 August 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  18. ↑ "Sud-Kivu: des attaques attribuées aux FDLR et FARDC dans 5 territoires" [South Kivu: Attacks attributed to the FDLR and FARDC in 5 territories]. Radio Okapi (in French). 29 August 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  19. ↑ "Sud-Kivu: un mort dans l'embuscade contre un véhicule de transport en commun à Uvira" [South Kivu: One dead in ambush on public transport vehicle in Uvira]. Radio Okapi (in French). 31 March 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  20. ↑ "Sud-Kivu: des inconnus mettent le feu à 40 hectares de forêt à Uvira" [South Kivu: Unknown persons set fire to 40 hectares of forest in Uvira]. Radio Okapi (in French). 3 July 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  21. ↑ "Uvira: une femme tuée après une attaque d'hommes armés à Bwegera" [Uvira: Woman killed after attack by armed men in Bwegera]. Radio Okapi (in French). 19 March 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  22. ↑ "Sud-Kivu: 4 000 personnes quittent Bwegera après le meurtre d'une femme" [South Kivu: 4,000 people leave Bwegera after the murder of a woman]. Radio Okapi (in French). 28 June 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  23. ↑ "Sange: 5 personnes tuées en un mois par des hommes armés" [Sange: 5 people killed in one month by armed men]. Radio Okapi (in French). 21 April 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  24. ↑ "Sud-Kivu: la MONUSCO lance le projet de lutte contre la violence communautaire à Bwegera" [South Kivu: MONUSCO launches project to combat community violence in Bwegera]. Radio Okapi (in French). 19 October 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2023.

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