The Democratic Republic of Congo has been encouraged to accelerate the rollout of a new programme to demobilise rebel fighters amid surging conflict with armed groups, including the M23, which has seized yet more territory in eastern parts of the country.

But there are limited funds for the programme, which is yet to begin activities more than a year into its creation. Local analysts and combatants are sceptical it will succeed given the failure of three prior demobilisation schemes to ease violence.

“You can take a thousand fighters out from armed groups today, but tomorrow they will be able to recruit another thousand people,” said Nene Morisho, director of Pole Institute, a Congolese think tank specialising in conflict prevention and resolution.

The demobilisation scheme – which comes after several years without a nationwide programme – is one of several initiatives introduced by President Félix Tshisekedi, who came to power in early 2019 promising to quell long-running conflict in the east.

Tshisekedi has initiated dialogue with some armed groups and launched large-scale military offensives against others. He has also introduced martial law in two eastern provinces, and approved the deployment of a controversial East African military force.

Yet insecurity has only worsened, as a renewed offensive by the M23, which Rwanda is accused of backing, uproots nearly 240,000 people. Conflicts involving other armed groups are also flaring, with almost six million Congolese internally displaced overall. 

Experts say the new programme must improve on prior schemes in order to reduce violence. Past efforts didn’t create durable livelihoods for rebels nor address the political factors that drew them into armed groups – of which there are now over 120.

But the latest demobilisation initiative has been marked by controversial appointments – its top official, Tommy Tambwe, has prior links to rebel groups, including the M23 – and a sluggish start that has left some questioning the government’s commitment.

Several Congolese officials involved in the programme say they don’t have funds to implement projects, while a senior diplomat said international donors aren’t willing to release money until the government puts “skin in the game”.

Local residents in conflict-hit areas called for faster action from authorities. “The government needs to disarm people quickly,” said Henri Ngabu, from northeastern Ituri province. “People will restart fighting because they need a means to live.”

DRC’s first disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme began in 2004, following two devastating wars. The conflicts were linked to the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda and the subsequent exodus of genocidaires into eastern DRC.

More than 200,000 combatants have since shuffled through different demobilisation programmes, making the DDR effort here one of the world’s largest and longest-running. International donors have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the processes.

Yet some funds have been misappropriated by the state and poor implementation has meant combatants who disarmed often ended up rejoining rebel groups, which have proliferated in number in recent years.

Almost a dozen current and former rebels who were interviewed for this story said they spent several hardscrabble years in cantonment camps, waiting to demobilise. Some were so ill-equipped that rebels and their families died of hunger and disease.

Combatants who reintegrated into civilian life, meanwhile, said assistance was scant and poorly tailored. Others were stigmatised by communities, which were left out of programme implementation, and questioned why rebels were the only ones being assisted.

“It’s because [combatants] are not treated well that they rejoin groups,” said Joseph Byenda, an ex-rebel who demobilised in 2005, having started fighting in the 1990s. Byenda said he is still stigmatised and struggles to survive on a paltry income.

Despite the failure of past programmes, the absence of a national scheme in recent years led to missed opportunities. For example, a wave of rebels surrendered in 2019 when Tshisekedi came to power, but they then received little support.

Known as the Disarmament, Demobilisation, Community Recovery and Stabilisation Programme, the new scheme differs from past ones in that it will be run from provinces rather than the capital city Kinshasa – a measure supposed to decentralise decision-making.

There will also be a strong emphasis on sensitising and supporting communities to accommodate ex-combatants, with both parties standing to benefit from job creation schemes such as on farms and in road construction.

“Ex-fighters and the populations will work together in order to create an environment of understanding and trust,” said Joseph Ndayambaje Sukisa, deputy coordinator of technical and operational matters for the demobilisation programme in North Kivu.

Like past programmes, the initiative will focus on bringing rebels back into civilian life and excludes the wholesale integration of armed groups into the army. Amnesty for serious rights abuses is ruled out too.

“Impunity is the root of all the cycles of violence in DRC,” said Stewart Muhindo, of the campaign group LUCHA. “Until now, all the dialogues in DRC seem to consecrate the impunity of militiamen by granting them a general amnesty or integration into the army.”

Still, while some combatants expressed optimism in the new programme, many remained jaded by past iterations and few seemed aware of specific details about the initiative, indicating a lack of communication from authorities.

• The New Humanitarian report