Have you ever seen the former President of Ghana, H.E Jerry Rawlings? He looked cool in his army fatigue, and that white beard of his. A friend of mine saw Cornielle Nangaa on TV and said that he as a sexy beard! I asked her whether she thinks he still has what it takes to accomplish Domestic Affairs and leave a lady smiling? She answered that these days, women don’t want a lot of work in bed that can break them, I raised one eyebrow and was like, maybe if she’s lucky, he may throw her a bar of gold. Then there’s Che Guevara, an Argentine revolutionary whose one person that has been idolized the world over, because he stood his ground. I’ve still failed to get a T-shirt of him. Anyway, back to Corneille Nangaa Yobeluo, born on 09th July 1970, in Bagboya, Orientale Province (now Haut-Uele Province), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and is now the commander of M23.
In 2015, Nangaa was appointed as the President of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) by the then-President Joseph Kabila. During his tenure, he oversaw the 2018 general elections, declaring Félix Tshisekedi as the winner, and yet everyone was expecting Martin Fayulu to be announced as the overall winner. Fayulu must have been polishing his dancing shoes knowing he will ascend the majestic Palais de la Nation and swing to the great tunes of Franco and Madilu System! But alas, the election was marred by delays and allegations of fraud, leading to sanctions by United States against Nangaa in 2019 for undermining the DRC’s democratic processes.
After leaving CENI in 2021, Nangaa, who seemed to have inside information, publicly claimed that President Tshisekedi’s 2018 victory resulted from a deal between Tshisekedi and former president Joseph Kabila, a claim Tshisekedi denies. In August 2023, Nangaa announced the formation of the Congo River Alliance or, Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), comprising 17 political parties, two political groups, and several armed militias, notably of which, the March 23 Movement (M23) is among. The AFC – a political wing, with M23 as its military wing, has been active in the Eastern DRC.
Long story short, M23 takes over Goma City. President Tshisekedi threatens harsh retaliation on M23! Then he later rallies the masses around Goma to rise up and fight against the rebels. I ask myself, where is FARDC? You know, DRC has had intervention Forces, Peace keeping Forces for as long as I can remember. There was The East African Community Regional Force (EAC-RF), which was deployed to operate in North and South Kivu, and Ituri Provinces in November 2022 to help stabilize the conflict-affected areas. Its mandate was centered around peacekeeping, facilitating dialogue, and overseeing the withdrawal of armed groups in the Region. Tshisekedi expexcted to see guns blazing like Arnold Shwarzenegger in Commando or Rambo – First Blood! When that didn’t happen, he kicked EAC-RF out!
M23 now want to go and take over Bukavu City which is 194 kms, will FARDC soldiers be able to hold them off? Its rumoured that M23 have advanced weapons. A source told me that M23 will definitely overthrow Bukavu City! Then there is the (1500 soldiers) Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC), who were unfortunately not able to defend Goma from M23 takeover. They are supposed to be 5000 soldiers, but I guess they are still working on it. President Tshisekedi sent his Prime Minister to attend the EAC- SADC summit on DRC! It is the second time for him to miss in person. So, I am still weighing my chances of joining – wish me luck, I may bring you a rare mineral.
