Congo Rangers

Category: Thoughts | Date: Nov 29 2006 | By: admin

 

 

Nyamulagira erupted on Monday 27th at approximately 1930.  Ever since, lava from the 1km long fissure has been moving down the western side of the volcano towards Sake, a small town 25km west of Goma on the edge of the Virunga National Park and the scene of recent clashes between the dissident Gerneal Laurant Nkunda and the UN Peacekeeping Forces.  Earlier on Monday morning Nkunda and his troops attacked the UN who had set up cordons between Sake and Goma.  By midday, the UN had managed to push them into a retreat. 

Nkunda and his men are one of several rebel groups who have been occupying the park over recent months, cutting down the forest and poaching the wildlife.  Efforts by the Congolese military to push them out have been fruitless.  Well, it seems as if the park has finally had enough and through the use of one of its two active volcanos, has decided to give the UN a helping hand.  DRC’s very own resource protection strategy! 

 

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Category: Rangers | Date: Nov 18 2006 | By: admin

Elie and his rangers on a training exercise

When not on operations, the Advance Force carry out training exercises near Ishango which remains relatively safe and isolated. This training helps prepare them for anti-poaching operations in more dangerous areas of the park where they may encounter Ugandan, Rwandan or Congolese rebel groups. Soon the rangers will be heading to the far northern sector of Virunga National Park, to an area which has been under the control of Ugandan rebels for several decades. Earlier this year, the UN Peacekeeping Force for DRC dispersed these rebel groups, but it is quite possible that many still remain. The ICCN now want to bring this area back under proper control and management, and the Advance Force will soon be moving in to try and establish an official ICCN presence on the ground for the first time in more than 30 years.

The rangers will need to be sharp, and training is key. Over the next few weeks, the rangers will be planning and preparing for what will probably be their toughest operation yet. The lorry from UNESCO is on its way and should be at Mutsora within the next couple of days. This will help with their deployment into the north and to supply rations and field equipment. Meanwhile, we will carry out aerial surveillance of the area to try and identify any obvious threats while similar reconnaissance will be carried out on the ground.

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Category: General, Rangers | Date: Nov 18 2006 | By: admin

Early in 2000, Kasereka was manning an ICCN checkpoint at Kalingera in Virunga’s southern sector. Two of his colleagues had just left the patrol post and had walked the 300 meters or so up to the main road where they were waiting for a lift to the park station. All of a sudden, Kasereka heard gun fire and the explosion of anti-tank mortars coming from the main road. He grabbed the two other rangers who were with him and ran up to the main road to help protect his colleagues.Arriving at the main road he immediately saw an inferno of twisted metal. It was all that was left of a Daihatsu pick-up truck. The driver was nowhere to be seen, but it was assumed that he, along with all those traveling on the back, were killed immediately in the explosion. The two rangers were nowhere to be seen. Had they already got a lift to the station? Were they on the Daihatsu pick-up when it was blown up?

Kasereka and his rangers suddenly came under heavy fire from 15 men wearing Military Police uniforms. The rangers returned fire as a measure of self preservation and managed to force the Military Police into a retreat. The rangers quickly searched the area and found their two colleagues. Budo Gonza and Mathiew Wathaut were lying dead on the grass verge. They picked up the bodies and carried them back to the patrol post from where they were collected and driven to the station for burial.

The following evening, around 1830, eight soldiers in camouflage uniforms approached the checkpoint from the direction of the park. Earlier that day, a large number of Rwandan military had left the park and the rangers were under the impression that these soldiers were part of the same unit. They told the rangers that they had just carried out an operation in the park and had a wounded soldier with them who needed immediate hospital treatment.

They then asked the rangers to bring him some water to drink. The rangers could not understand why the soldiers were reluctant to cross the barrier, but nevertheless the rangers obliged and went and found some water in a gerry can. Berret Rwakadigi and Clerent Sebihaza then took the gerry can across the barrier and into the park towards the soldiers.

The soldiers suddenly retreated into the bush, and as the rangers continued to approach, there were three shots fired. Both rangers went down, crying out in pain. Kasereka and his colleagues ran to the barrier shouting and screaming, and started shooting desperately into the bush, trying to force the soldiers into a retreat. But the soldiers had already gone. The rangers ran to help their two colleagues, but sadly it was too late.

Was this related to the attack carried out the previous day? Was it some kind of revenge attack? Or was this just a cruel and cold blooded assassination of two fine young rangers?

The Kalingera Patrol Post is located in one of the most hostile areas of the park, and it is testiment to Kasereka’s courage and determination, as well as good fortune, that he survived while many of his less fortunate collegaues sadly perished. Today Kasereka leads Section 3 (Troop 1) of the Advance Force, and is both a credit to himself and to the ICCN.

This is what Conrad had to say about Kasereka following the selection phase: “A class-act. Robust, vigorous and a possible instructor too. Perhaps a little vociferous but fiercely competitive. A future leader and one to groom. Second on the course in spite of a wisdom tooth problem, which skewed his results. Most definitely the most promising young leader of this course also scored well on votes. Recommended instructor’s course.”

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Category: General, Rangers | Date: Nov 08 2006 | By: admin

Back in December 2003, just a couple of months before I arrived in DRC, Maombi was based at a small Patrol Post in Nyamilimar. This large town borders the park to the East, and its inhabitants were putting enormous pressure on the parks natural resources.

The ICCN had been working hard to prevent illegal cultivation within the park for some time, and on the 20th December, Maombi was instructed by his commanding officer to oversee the evacuation of more than 10,000 illegal cultivators from an area known as Kongo. He was to do so with 6 new recruits who had been placed under his supervision.

At 0800 his patrol moved into the park and almost immediately ran into an ambush by the Rwandan Army (APR). A bullet tore through his shirt and he hit the ground. He was not carrying his rifle, there were simply not enough to go around, and he had had to privilege his new recruits for training purposes. He screamed to his recruits to run while the APR fired a hail of bullets at them. Then they moved in on Maombi, still lying in the grass, unarmed and terrified. The APR picked him up, bound him and marched him back to their camp outside the park.

Once in their camp he was beaten like a piece of dead meat. One APR soldier said he was going to shoot him, and he told two others to hold him while he raised his weapon to fire.

In one last desperate bid for freedom, Maombi kicked and fought and bit and worked his way free of their grasp.

He started running. Then…. Bang! Bang! Two shots were fired. One struck him through the neck shattering his clavicle, while the other hit him squarely on the back of his head cutting deep into his skull. He fell to the ground, and despite appearing to be quite dead, the soldiers gathered round and pounded at his limp body. Kicking him, stamping on him, punching him, until their terrible aggression had been satisfied.

It was around 2 am that Maombi regained consciousness, drenched in a pool of his own blood, he staggered to his feet and slipped away under the cover of darkness.

He wandered dazed and confused around the bush for over two weeks before he eventually found his way back to his patrol post. With his wounds festering, severely dehydrated and on the point of starvation, it is a miracle that Maombi survived.

Equally incredible is that despite his injuries, he made a full recovery and has proved himself to be one of Virunga’s top rangers. This is what Conrad had to say about him following the selection phase: ‘Scarred youth with brilliant attitude’ - well he made it into the Advance Force.

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