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Mulenge

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Village in Bafuliiru Chiefdom, South Kivu

Village in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mulenge
Village
Country Democratic Republic of the Congo
ProvinceSouth Kivu
TerritoryUvira
ChiefdomBafuliiru
GroupingKigoma
Time zoneUTC+2 (CAT)

Mulenge is a village encircled by hills in the Kigoma groupement (grouping), within Bafuliiru Chiefdom, located in the Uvira Territory, South Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is situated on the high plateaus of the Itombwe massif, overlooking the locality of Uvira. The area has conventionally been inhabited by various ethnic groups, including the remnants of the autochthonous population of African Pygmies, as well as Bantu ethnic groups such as the Mbuti, Fuliiru, and Nyindu. The region boasts high agricultural productivity, with two harvests typically achievable each year.

Etymology

The name "Mulenge" originates from the Fuliiru language, spoken by the Fuliiru people, who migrated to Uvira Territory from Lwindi Chiefdom—a region near the Ulindi River in the rugged hinterlands of Mwenga Territory—around the seventeenth century. "Mulenge" is believed to derive from a Fuliiru word for the shinbone.

A notable account of Mulenge comes from Frédéric Hautmann, a Belgian ethnologist and explorer who passed through Uvira in the early 20th century. In his ethnographic study of Itombwe, Hautmann stated:

"Near Mulenghe (Mulenge), two days' walk from Sanghe (Sange), I was able to observe five of these small "tumuli"; while crossing other villages of the Bafulero (Bafuliiru) of the mountain, I met another ten with pots with two holes, intact, broken or in last shards remains of these pots. This custom is practiced to protect the newborn from the evil mountain spirits. It is two months after the birth that we meet at the place where the placenta is buried. Parents, family members and friends celebrate a festival that lasts several days and nights. The tumulus is sprinkled with native beer."

History

Pre-colonial era

Mulenge, like many regions in South Kivu, was once home to the Mbuti people, whose livelihoods were centered around hunting and trading. However, with the arrival of the Bafuliiru in the 17th century, the local landscape began to transform. The Fuliiru, having migrated from Lwindi (presently recognized as Luindi Chiefdom in the Mwenga Territory) towards the present-day Uvira, took root in the mountainous terrain of Mulenge and eventually branched out to neighboring regions. Following the migration, Mulenge experienced a profound cultural shift, with the introduction of new traditions and customs that coexisted alongside the existing way of life. The Fuliiru agriculturists quickly introduced new farming techniques to the region, enabling them to cultivate crops such as beans, maize, and cassava.

According to Congolese historian Bishikwabo Chubaka, the cross-checking different versions collected by the first European ethnologists, colonial administrators, anthropologists, and cartographers in Uvira disclosed that the territory stretching along the north-western coastline of the Ruzizi Plain—from Uvira all the way to Luvungi—was under the authority of the Bahamba clan of Bafuliiru. Lemera was the capital of this dynasty. The name "Lemera" is said to come from Mulemera, the father of Kahamba, believed to be the founder of the Bahamba dynasty and the capital itself.

Colonial era and ongoing conflict

During the 19th century, the village underwent a significant transformation and blossomed into an extensive agglomeration in the northern reaches of Lake Tanganyika. The burgeoning village attracted Tutsi and Hutu shepherds who had been leading their herds to the Itombwe Highlands, seeking greener pastures. Scholars, such as Olga Boone [fr], David Newbury, and Catherine Newbury, describe these pastoralist communities as "foreign groups". Over time, they established themselves in the western part of Baraka and eventually made their way to the Fizi Territory, where they settled among the Bembe people.

Archival records from 1924 reveal the arrival of the first Rwandophone contingent in the area. Testimonies from local sources corroborate the emergence of interethnic tensions between the Fuliiru and the Rwandophones during the reign of Mahina Mukogabwe, often referred to as Nyamugira Mukogabwe II. The Fuliiru community recalls the systemic relegation they experienced in 1927, which sowed enduring animosity toward the Rwandophone immigrants. This bitterness persisted beyond the death of Mukogabwe in 1930, a juncture at which Rwandophones, having sought refuge in Itombwe, petitioned the colonial administration for reinstatement in Mulenge. The colonial authorities, favoring the Rwandophones, facilitated their reintegration. On 25 February 1938, Mulenge was incorporated into the administrative structure created for Uvira Territory under Ordinance-Law No. 21/91, which established the boundaries of Uvira Territory and organized its governance, officially designating Mulenge as an administrative post alongside Makobola and Luvungi in the Bafuliiru Chiefdom.

In October 1998, during the commencement of the Second Congo War, the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL) committed a multitude of criminal offenses against civilians in Uvira. In the chaos and mayhem of the conflict, many local populations fell victim to the AFDL's brutality, with countless lives cut short, including the former Mulenge post chief, Ladislas Matalambu, who was killed on 1 October 1998, at 7:30 p.m., while Alexis Deyidedi, former administrative secretary of the Bafuliiru Chiefdom, was assassinated on 2 October 1998, at 11 p.m. AFDL left a pathway of destruction and despair in their wake, with homes and businesses looted, burned, and destroyed.

Mixed group of Banyamulenge and Bafuliru repairing a road between Lemera and Mulenge, ca. 2003

On 10 June 2004, up to 3,500 Congolese, mostly Bafuliiru and Babembe, fled to Burundi, fleeing ethnic persecution. On 16 January 2019, clashes erupted between Burundian rebel factions, including FOREBU, RED-Tabara, and the FNL (National Forces of Liberation), and Burundian militias. The conflict, which originated in Kabere, 20 kilometers west of Sange, spilled over into adjacent localities, including Mubere and Mulenge, resulting in at least 17 fatalities. By 22 January 2019, the coalition comprising RED-Tabara, FNL, and Mai-Mai Kihebe, commanded by Kihebe Ngabunga, was expelled from Kifuni village, where they had sought refuge on 20 January following their defeat in Mulenge at the hands of Burundian Imbonerakure militia, bolstered by Congolese Mai-Mai contingents. This coalition regained control of territories spanning Kabere, Mubere, and Mulenge in the middle plateaus of the Kigoma groupement. The skirmishes culminated in the deaths of five people, including four rebels and one Mai-Mai combatant, alongside injuries sustained by militia members. These hostilities triggered further displacement, with uprooted populations seeking shelter in school facilities and among host families, where they were deprived of fundamental necessities.

On 31 January 2019, civil society representatives and elders from the Bavira, Banyamulenge, Bafuliiru, Banyindu, and Babembe communities appealed to the United Nations Security Council to address the proliferation of Burundian and Rwandan armed groups in the DRC. By early February, the Burundian military commenced a phased withdrawal, dismantling RED-Tabara rebel strongholds. However, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), deployed to secure the region, established unauthorized checkpoints in former rebel-occupied zones, where reports of harassment and extortion on market days emerged. On 21 February 2019, Kihebe Ngabunga surrendered to FARDC forces, accompanied by a cohort of approximately ten combatants, and relinquished two military-grade firearms. On 11 August 2019, the FARDC's 123rd Special Commando Battalion replaced the 3,304th Regiment in Lubarika, currently stationed in Nyamutiri (mid-plateaus) and Mulenge.

Climate

In Mulenge, the wet season is hot, humid, and overcast and the dry season is warm and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 62 °F to 86 °F and is rarely below 59 °F or above 90 °F.

References

  1. Kishamata, Jérôme Katongo. "Monographie de la Cheffeerie des Bafuliiru" [Monograph of the Bafuliiru Chiefdom]. Africmemoire.com (in French). Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  2. ^ Mukunde, Abel (2007). "Bilan humain des conflits armés et ses conséquences sur le développement du territoire d'Uvira de 1996 à 2005" [Human toll of armed conflicts and its consequences on the development of the Uvira territory from 1996 to 2005] (in French). Bukavu, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Institut Supérieur de Développement Rural de Bukavu. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  3. ^ Hautmann, Frédéric (1939). "Étude ethnographique de l'Itombwe (district du Kivu, Congo Belge)". Geographica Helvetica. 4 (3): 175–177. doi:10.5194/gh-4-175-1949. S2CID 180994095.
  4. Ntabala, Thierry. "Canal de Kakamba, le goulot d'étranglement de la riziculture à Luvungi" [Kakamba Canal, the bottleneck of rice cultivation in Luvungi]. congo.rikolto.org (in French). Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  5. ^ Sabuni, Abel Mukunde (2007). "Bilan humain des conflits armés et ses conséquences sur le développement du territoire d'Uvira de 1996 à 2005" [Human toll of armed conflicts and its consequences on the development of the Uvira territory from 1996 to 2005] (in French). Bukavu, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Institut Supérieur de Développement Rural de Bukavu (ISDR). Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  6. ^ Chubaka, Bishikwabo (1987). "Aux Origines de la Ville d'Uvira Selon les Explorateurs et les Pionniers de la Colonisation Belge Au Zaire (1840-1914)". Civilisations (in French). 37 (1): 83–126. ISSN 0009-8140. JSTOR 41968746.
  7. ^ Hautmann, Frédéric (1939). "Étude ethnographique de l'Itombwe (district du Kivu, Congo Belge)". Geographica Helvetica. 4 (3): 175–176. doi:10.5194/gh-4-175-1949. S2CID 180994095.
  8. CHUBAKA, BISHIKWABO (1987). "Aux Origines de la Ville d'Uvira Selon les Explorateurs et les Pionniers de la Colonisation Belge Au Zaire (1840-1914)". Civilisations. 37 (1): 83–126. ISSN 0009-8140. JSTOR 41968746.
  9. Moeller de Laddersous, Alfred (1936). "Les grandes lignes des migrations des Bantus de la province orientale du Congo belge" (PDF) (in French). p. 136. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  10. Culture et société, Volume 4 (in French). Bujumbura, Burundi: Ministère de la jeunesse, des sports et de la culture, Centre de civilisation burundaise. 1981. pp. 108–109.
  11. Les Cahiers du CEDAF (in French). Tervuren, Belgium: Centre d'étude et de documentation africaines. 1979. pp. 7–8.
  12. Lemarchand, René (May 1999). "Ethnicity as Myth: The View from the Central Africa" (PDF). Centre of African Studies, University of Copenhagen. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  13. Boone, Olga (1954). "Carte ethnique du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi". Stanford Libraries. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  14. Ruhebuza, Honoré Mapenzi (September 2021). "Le déclassement social dans les communes urbaines de Mulongwe et Kalundu, ville d'Uvira en République Démocratique du Congo" [Social downgrading in the urban communes of Mulongwe and Kalundu, city of Uvira in the Democratic Republic of Congo] (in French). Bujumbura, Burundi: University of Burundi. pp. 20–21. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  15. "The End Of Mobutu's Dictatorship - Democratic Republic of the Congo | ReliefWeb". Reliefweb.int. 30 May 1997. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  16. "Democratic Republic of Congo situation of selected groups" (PDF). Issue Paper, Situation of selected groups. April 1998. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  17. "Thousands of Congolese refugees continue to flood into Burundi, UN says | UN News". News.un.org. 15 June 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  18. ^ "Sud-Kivu: au moins 17 morts dans des combats entre rebelles et miliciens burundais aux plateaux d'Uvira" [South Kivu: At least 17 dead in fighting between rebels and Burundian militias on the Uvira plateaus]. Radio Okapi (in French). 16 January 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  19. ^ "Des milices burundaises s'affrontent à Uvira" [Burundian militias clash in Uvira]. Radio Okapi (in French). 23 January 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  20. "Uvira: la société civile demande l'implication du Conseil de sécurité contre les groupes armés étrangers" [Uvira: Civil society calls for the involvement of the Security Council against foreign armed groups]. Radio Okapi (in French). 31 January 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  21. ^ "RDC: les déplacés en détresse après les combats entre armée et rebelles burundais à Uvira" [DRC: Displaced people in distress after fighting between army and Burundian rebels in Uvira]. Radio Okapi (in French). 7 February 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  22. "Sud-Kivu: le chef Maï-Maï Kihebe se rend aux FARDC" [South Kivu: Mai-Mai leader Kihebe surrenders to the FARDC]. Radio Okapi (in French). 23 February 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  23. "Sud-Kivu: la société civile salue la permutation des FARDC dans les moyens et hauts plateaux de la Ruzizi" [South Kivu: Civil society welcomes the FARDC's transfer to the middle and high plateaus of Ruzizi]. Radio Okapi (in French). 12 August 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
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