Socio-Economic Impact of the Mukungwe Mine's Conflict

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Socio-Economic Impact of the Mukungwe Mine's Conflict SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE MUKUNGWE MINE’S CONFLICT SYSTEM AUGUST 2019 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by GEC-SH for Management Systems International (MSI), A Tetra Tech Company. (THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK) SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE MUKUNGWE MINE’S CONFLICT SYSTEM Contracted under contract number AID-660-60-16-00004 USAID Solutions for Peace and Recovery (SPR) DISCLAIMER The authors’ views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. (THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK) CONTENTS ACRONYMS ...................................................................................................................... II ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................. 2 SECTION 1. SITE LOCATION AND HISTORICAL TRAJECTORY OF A FRIENDLY CONFLICT ..................................................................................................... 3 1.1 LOCATION AND POTENTIAL OF THE SITE ..................................................................................... 3 1.2 HISTORICAL TRAJECTORY OF A CYCLICAL CONFLICT ............................................................. 6 SECTION 2. CURRENT CONTEXT AND SOCIOLOGY OF ACTORS .................... 7 2.1. THE CURRENT CONTEXT: A ‘RED SITE’ GRANTED TO BANRO ............................................. 7 2.2. THE MAIN STAKEHOLDERS INTERACTING IN THE MUKUNGWE SITE ................................. 8 SECTION 3. IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN SECURITY .......................................... 11 3.1 DECLINE IN AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES AND IMPACT ON FOOD SECURITY ................. 11 3.2 ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH IMPACTS OF MINING............................................................ 12 3.3 MILITIA MOBILIZATION AND ITS IMPACT ON COMMUNITY SECURITY ............................. 12 SECTION 4. REFLECTIONS ON POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS .................................. 13 4.1. FROM ‘RED’ TO ‘GREEN’ SITE: ACTION AT THE LOCAL LEVEL .............................................. 13 4.2 CLEANING UP FRAGMENTED AND PREDATORY MINING GOVERNANCE ........................ 15 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 16 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................. 17 USAID.GOV SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE MUKUNGWE MINE’S CONFLICT SYSTEM | i ACRONYMS DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo FARDC Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) FDLR Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) LUBOMUSHIR LUBOna, MUSHinga and IRongo MSI Management Systems International NGO Non-Governmental Organization RCD Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie (Rally for Congolese Democracy) SAESSCAM Service d’Assistance et d’Encadrement du Small-Scale Mining (Small-Scale Mining Assistance and Management Service) USAID United States Agency for International Development ZEA Artisanal Exploitation Zone ii | SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE MUKUNGWE MINE’S CONFLICT SYSTEM USAID.GOV ABSTRACT This paper is a contribution to the debate that is now part of the social, political and economic landscape of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and rendered under several concepts, like conflict minerals, blood minerals, red mineral sites, etc. The aim is to understand how a constellation of governance structures involved in the governance of the mining sector in South Kivu finds a favorable context in the conflict system around the mining site of Mukungwe, and how that has a dangerous impact on human security. The outcome of this analysis is to answer a central question: What can be done to move from conflict minerals to peace and development minerals in South Kivu in general and in the Walungu territory in particular. Keywords: Conflict System, Mining Governance, Conflict Minerals, Ores of Peace, Human Security, Mukungwe Mining Site, Banro USAID.GOV SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE MUKUNGWE MINE’S CONFLICT SYSTEM | 1 INTRODUCTION Judith Verweijn described the current governance system in eastern DRC’s mining sites as “a militarized mining sector!” (2016: 49). Not only does this expression best describe the logic that drives actors’ strategies to ensure control of mining sites and access to their abundant resources, but it also clarifies the place of violence, in all of its forms, in the power relations between the various actors involved in the DRC mining sector. These actors contribute to the perpetuation of conflict minerals (tantalum, gold and tungsten),1 particularly those targeted by the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act, adopted in 2010. All mining sites in North and South Kivu fit this profile, including the site of interest for this article, Mukungwe. Commonly known as Maroc,2 the Mukungwe site is the most contentious of those in the immediate vicinity of Bukavu, South Kivu. For nearly 50 years, three families who became influential have been fighting for control of the gold, the main mineral mined at this site.3 The positioning of local communities and both state and non-state actors in relation to this conflict eventually contributed to the establishment of a system of conflicts with disastrous consequences. The most prominent consequences are: the use of militias to “secure” the site; the emergence of new forms of public authorities on the mining site; the establishment of a predatory governance system involving both state and non-state actors; and the continued deterioration of the local populations’ living conditions. All of this contributes to confirming a certain fatalistic conception that draws its arguments from a conspiracy theory and states that “the Democratic Republic of Congo is victim of its natural resources” (Katoka, B. 2017).4 As a result, expressions such as “conflict minerals,” “blood minerals” (Boltanski, C., 2014), “red mining sites” and others seem to fit into the socio-political and economic landscape of the DRC. These issues help mobilize researchers and international human rights organizations in a dynamic search for solutions not only to the systematic plundering of the DRC's mineral resources, but also to the chronic precariousness observed among the population in the mining areas.5 This article thus seeks to provide answers to a central question: What can be done to move from conflict minerals to peace minerals and the development of South Kivu in general and particularly in the Walungu territory? This issue is both simple and complex. It is simple because of the temptation to believe that a serious involvement of the State through the implementation of the Bakajika Law,6 and laws in general, would be 1 The U.S. Congress adopted Article 1502 of the Act to address the problems of mining and trading of conflict minerals by armed groups that contribute to financing conflicts in the DRC in general and in its eastern provinces, with obvious consequences for the ever-increasing humanitarian crisis in the region. 2 The designation Maroc has nothing to do with the Cherifian Empire. It originates from the name of a vast estate that the late President Mobutu allegedly granted to his friend Habyarimana, the former president of Rwanda, in the Walikale territory around the Bisie mine. Several Bashi, originally from Walungu, were involved in artisanal gold mining in Walikale and were forced to leave the concession to return to their Walungu territory, where the site had just been discovered. They named the site after their former workplace in Walikale. 3 The conflict around the mining site has pitted the Kurhengamuzimu family (Mushinga Groupement leader) against those of his two subjects, Chunu and Rubango, in the fight over the control of gold production. 4 Read Pierre-André Taguieff, (2005, La foire aux illuminés. Ésotérisme, théorie du complot, extrémisme, Paris, Mille and Une Nuits, p. 612.) 5 Read De Putter, T. and C. Delvaux, “Certifying Mineral Resources in the Great Lakes Region,” in Foreign Policy, 2013/2 (Summer), pp. 99–112, Geenen, S., and F. Iragi Mukotanyi, “Large Fish Eat Small”: Multiple Aspects of Conflict Over a Mining Lease in South Kivu, in African Policy, 2013/3, pp. 121–141. 6 The Bakajika Law emphasizes that the soil and subsoil belong to the State, thus bringing natural and legal persons to quickly align with land tenure security, while being ready to sell the land as soon as the interests of the State are established. 2 | SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE MUKUNGWE MINE’S CONFLICT SYSTEM USAID.GOV sufficient to resolve the issue. However, it is complex in the sense that extraneous factors interfere with a predatory mining governance system in place since the outbreak of the cycle of rebellions that have been burning the country for several decades. Answering this central question is best with a systemic approach (Easton, D., 1974) to conflict around mining sites. The structures involved in the governance of the mining sector that are present on mining sites are approached as micro-governance systems. These structures contribute both to the consolidation of conflict systems in and around mining sites and to the weakening of the State, which is now in
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