Interview with Mai Mai deserter at UN base
Category: Crises, Hippos | Date: Oct 11 2006 | By: admin
“They are shooting hippos as if they were cutting down trees†exclaimed the Mai Mai officer who was being held by MONUC Peacekeepers. The poaching of around 150 hippos a week, is organised by Lt. Col Kabila (I can only assume this is a code name) and his Second in Command Major Thomas. A section of 12 Mai Mai soldiers are sent out to recruit local poachers, providing them with all the rifles and ammunition they need. The ivory is then collected by the Mai Mai, and the hippo meat given to the poachers who sell it in illegal markets. Once every few weeks, one of Lt. Col Kabila’s associates makes his way down across the park to Cyondo where he collects all the ivory and takes it back to his home town of Butembo. Where it goes from there is anybodies guess…Â
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Kabale Bonane: Mai Mai Intelligence Officer
I found Second Lieutenant Kambale Bonane at the UN Peacekeeper’s camp at Rutshuru earlier on this morning. He was one of a handful of Mai Mai and Interehamwe detainees awaiting eventual integration into the Congolese military. He was young and bright, and willingly provided answers to my questions. I showed him some aerial photos I had taken of the Mai Mai camp and he was able to locate his old house, along with that of Lt. Col Kabila and Major Thomas. He told me that there were approximately 86 Mai Mai soldiers at Cyondo, but that more than 530 Mai Mai were currently under the Command of Colonel Mosubi, the Mai Mai Chief who boycotted Sunday’s meeting with the park rangers to try and resolve the poaching problem, and who instead sent 90 of his men to attack a group of rangers at Muramba. He went on to say that the Mai Mai would not come out of the bush until after the elections. He clarified this by saying that should Jean-Pierre Bemba win the elections the Mai Mai would probably stay in the bush and continue fighting. It seems there may be rather a lot resting on the outcome of the DRC elections…
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One Response to “Interview with Mai Mai deserter at UN base”
Atamato » Blog Archive » Mai Mai Rebels in Muramba, on 14 May 2007
[…] Whatever the situation, neither looks good for the wildlife here. Unfortunately the poaching of hippos brings in money for the rebel groups to help their cause, and this is already a tactic that they have used only too recently. […]
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