By Patrick Ilunga, KINSHASA DR Congo
There has been confusion in Kinshasa after Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi named a dead commander to a new role in the ongoing military reforms.
A presidential decree read out
on national television (RTNC), had named Maj-Gen Floribert Kisembo, as the new
head of military operations in North Equateur Province, in the north western
region of the country.
His appointment, the
announcement said, was effective Monday October 17.
Later, however, following
public furore, the communication office of President Tshisekedi attributed the
mistake to the news anchor’s accent.
“It's a mispronunciation. The
journalist pronounced Kisembo instead of Kisebwe," the statement said,
referring to General Isaac Kisebwe, who was also promoted.
No room for error
However, the presenter said
the first, last and middle names of the late major-general, former commander of
the operational zone in Maniema, eastern DRC, left no room that she had
mispronounced the identity of the new commander.
Kisembo was killed by the
Congolese army, according to the testimony of other army officers, after he
tried to form a rebellion against the national armed forces of the country
known by its French acronym FARDC (Forces armées de la république démocratique
du Congo).
According to Col Fal Sikabwe,
who was then commander of the FARDC operational zone in Ituri (eastern DRC),
interviewed by Radio Okapi (affiliated to the UN mission in the DRC), "the
troops of the 4th FARDC brigade attacked the maquis of Gen Floribert Kisembo Bahemuka
in 2011.
The fighting took place in
Lonyo, a village north of Bunia. The deserter general (Floribert Kisembo) was
seriously injured in the fighting.
He died on May 1, 2011. Gen
Floribert Kisembo Bahemuka, former leader of the UPC militia and dissident of Thomas
Lubanga, had joined the FARDC in January 2005.
Second controversy
This is the second controversy
raised by President Tshisekedi's decrees. Earlier, he had promoted Gen John
Tshibangu, who had deserted the army after he had endorsed the victory of Étienne
Tshisekedi (the father of the current president Félix Tshisekedi) in the 2011
presidential election over Joseph Kabila. In that election, Kabila won but his
win was contested by opposition groups.
John Tshibangu, 52, who was
promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, was appointed commander of the 21st
military region whose headquarters is based in Mbuji-Mayi (Kasai Oriental), in
central DRC.
He served in the former
Zairean Armed Forces, trained in Israel before joining the Service d'action et
des renseignements militaires (SARM), an elite unit, during the time of former
president Mobutu Sese Seko.
He had a brief stint in the
rebellion in the early 2000s. But thanks to the 2003 peace agreement, he
re-joined the Congolese army and was even promoted to chief of staff of the 4th
military region in Kananga, in the centre of the DRC.
Formed rebel group
In August 2012, then a
colonel, Tshibangu defected from the ranks of the FARDC and claimed Etienne
Tshisekedi had been rigged out of the polls.
He created the APCCD (Armée du
peuple congolais pour le changement et la démocratie), a rebel group. He was
hunted down for several weeks by elements of the FARDC 'special forces' without
success.
The military court prosecuted
him for undermining state security, participation in an insurrectional
movement, rebellion and desertion.
After several years, he was
finally arrested in Tanzania at the end of 2018, after he had threatened to
overthrow President Joseph Kabila.
He appeared in a video,
dressed in military fatigues and surrounded by some soldiers. He was extradited
to Kinshasa from Tanzania where he was detained before being freed briefly.
President Félix Tshisekedi
would pardon him shortly after coming to power.
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