DRCONGO: ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO TRY AND SETTLE LAND DISPUTE BETWEEN FORMER PRESIDENT JOSEPH KABILA'S WIFE AND THE HABITANTS OF MBOBERO VILLAGE

Last week a delegation had arrived in the village of Mbobero, in the territory of Kabare South Kivu Province, to meet with the local population and find a way to bring to an end a 10 year land dispute, involving former first lady of the Democratic Republic of Congo Olive Lembe Kabila. 

Among the delegates was  Lembe's Chief of Staff Henri Kitenge, and the Administrator of Kabare , Thadee Midero.

The origin of the dispute dates back from 2010 when Mrs Kabila bought  200 hectares of land in the village, for farming purpose.

According to local civil society, the former first lady imposed her own terms and conditions, ordering villagers occupying the purchased land to vacate .

However there was a resistance from certain members of the village, some of whom had owned the land for more than 50 years.

In a film serie produced by journalists Gael Mpoyo and Franck Zongwe, together with human rights activists Jean-Chrisostome Kijana and Fidele Mutchungu, the film script gave an account of how Mrs Kabila used her status to forcefully remove those who had refused to give up their land. The film dubbed "Mbobero:Might Is Always Right" detailed how Olive Lembe was accompanied by security forces, including members of the Presidential Republican Guards, who went on to burn more than 300 houses after chasing away around 2000 of its occupants. 

The producers of the film were later subjected to threats, intimidations and arrests; a situation that was condemned by rights orgarnisation Human Rights Watch.   

But it seemed the violent confrontation never really settled the dispute, as in 2019, under the new leadership of President Felix Tshisekedi, the victims of the Mbobero destruction  made a public call for justice to be served and a return of their land. 

Mrs Olive Lembe Kabila then met with the representatives of the victims and agreed to return 8 hectares of the land to the villagers and give another 9 hectares to a Catholic church. The offer was strongly rejected by the representatives of the victims. Human activist and  civil society leader Jean-Chrisostome Kijana, who now represented the victims, argued that there was no way a 8 hectares land would accommodate families of more than 350 people. 

Under the latest negotiations, according to the Administrator of Kabare Thadee Midero, the former first lady has offered to pay $2000 dollars to each family that owned the disputed land. While some have taken up the offer and signed a Memorundum of Understanding to leave the area, others felt that the amount was little, and that they should be allowed to place their own price. Negotiations are continuing .