THE 23 MARCH 2009 AGREEMENT The M23 claims that it mutinied because Kinshasa did not respect the 23 March 2009 agreement. To what extent is this true? Here are the most important clauses of that agreement: • The CNDP would integrate its troops into the national army and police, and transform itself into a political party. This is the clause that Kinshasa insists on the most, as it stipulates that the CNDP would pursue any grievances through political channels. CNDP integrated around 5,300 soldiers and received over a quarter of high-level command positions in North and South Kivu. • CNDP administrative officials would be redeployed elsewhere. The CNDP complains that, despite repeated cabinet shuffles in Kinshasa since the deal, they never received any ministerial positions. But the 23 March agreement itself was vague, specifying neither how many positions the CNDP would obtain, nor at what level. In the end, they were given several posts in the territorial administration, a provincial ministry, and positions as provincial advisors. • The government would revive talks with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and neighbouring countries to promote the repatriation of refugees. This was done, albeit slowly, and a tripartite UNHCR-Congo-Rwanda agreement was signed on 17 February 2010. However, very few refugees returned, due to a lack of both security and available land, but also because of manipulations by Congolese and ex- CNDP officials. • The government would recognize the ranks of the CNDP’s military and police officers. Although the M23 stresses this point, most of its senior officers’ ranks were eventually confirmed in 2010. This was not the case for some lower- and mid-ranking officers. A related grievance––unequal pay for ex-CNDP commanders––has little basis, given how much officers such as Ntaganda and Makenga benefitted from tax rackets, mineral smuggling, and bank heists between 2009-12. • Both parties would participate in a national follow-up committee that would be accompanied by international envoys. The UN/African Union envoys soon wrapped up their work and the Congolese follow-up meetings took place very sporadically.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Feb 2014 23:37:58 +0000
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