It had been a while since Corneille Nangaa had an office job. The former Congolese civil servant spent much of the last two years in fatigues, as the head of a coalition of rebel groups fighting for control of the country’s east.
But in January, M23, the most prominent of the militias in Mr. Nangaa’s Congo River Alliance, seized the regional capital of Goma, and he got a new gig: overseeing a city government.
Now, he works from a commandeered immigration office, while two bodyguards dressed in black stand unsmiling at the door. Outside, baby-faced soldiers with peach fuzz mustaches patrol in circles, shiny Kalashnikovs slung across their backs.
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A rebel movement called M23 has taken over much of eastern Congo in recent months. Its rule in one of the region’s major cities offers clues about the group’s long-term ambitions.
But even as M23 rebels step into the ill-fitting role of administrators, their ultimate aims for this region of the Democratic Republic of Congo remain opaque.
With Congo and neighboring Rwanda – which backs M23 – due to draft a peace deal this week, Mr. Nangaa insists they do not intend to overthrow the national government. However, until recently, M23 was still pushing into new territory. And in cities like Goma, the rebels are working to cast themselves as capable stewards, offering a window into the group’s efforts to be considered a legitimate political movement.
“All over Congo today, people are expecting us to come because they want change,” says Mr. Nangaa, as though workshopping campaign slogans. “They want good governance. … They want development.”
Rebel occupation
M23 is the latest in a long line of Congolese rebel movements that have enjoyed backing from Rwanda. “It’s a cycle with practically the same demands” going back to the mid-1990s, says Onesphore Sematumba, an analyst for the International Crisis Group.
That was when Rwandan troops crept over the border to pursue the men responsible for its 1994 genocide. They soon joined up with Congolese rebel groups to topple dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who they said was sheltering génocidiares. Over the next 30 years, a succession of guerrilla movements battled for mineral wealth, territory, and simple survival, often acting as proxies in the wider conflict between Congo and Rwanda.
M23 is the most successful of these Rwandan-aligned forces. The rebels captured Goma for the first time in 2012 but hastily withdrew, as military defeats and international sanctions slapped on their Rwandan backers forced them into exile.
While M23 was underground, Mr. Nangaa was rising through the ranks of Congo’s government. In 2018, he headed the electoral commission that rubber-stamped the dubious victory of the current president, Félix Tshisekedi, leading to Mr. Nangaa being sanctioned by the United States for vote-rigging and racketeering.
Later, as he began to butt heads with Mr. Tshisekedi and his influence waned, Mr. Nangaa publicly admitted his role in falsifying the election results. This caused a fallout between the two men, and put Mr. Nangaa on a different political path.
In the Congolese government, “I’ve seen a lot of mistakes. I’ve seen a lot of irresponsibility,” Mr. Nangaa says.
“Come and compare”
In 2021, M23 reemerged, launching a new offensive. At the same time, Mr. Nangaa was also making a political comeback, this time by founding the opposition Congo River Alliance. Established in 2023, the coalition brought together M23 and other rebel groups and anti-government movements from across the country, and provided a platform for them to negotiate with the Congolese government.
As a result, Mr. Sematumba says, M23’s demands have become “more political and more national.”
That vision is unfolding in rebel-held Goma, where M23 is appointing new administrators. Among them is Hélène Niragire Mukadashi, a former M23 intelligence agent who specialized in monitoring civilian activity. Now, she works in the mayor’s office.
“We are living well,” she says. “Come and compare the areas under M23 control with those under government control.”
But there are clues to the contrary. Banks are out of money, and the airport has been closed since January, isolating Goma and its residents. Although M23 has restored water and electricity supplies that were cut during its advance, and reopened schools, a climate of fear hangs over the city. Uniformed militants patrol its streets in armored cars. Residents are forced to participate in weekly street cleanups.
A Monitor reporter asked four shopkeepers whose stores were looted during M23’s advance about life under rebel government. All were afraid to talk. Meanwhile, Goma’s vibrant nightlife, which until recently buzzed with dance and pool halls, has all but disappeared. By dark, the city is completely quiet, with the bars and restaurants where people once met to chat and share news shuttered. Residents complain of thieves roaming the streets after dusk.
Expanding influence
The fall of Goma was followed by M23’s rapid advance into new territory. In February, it captured Bukavu, the largest city in nearby South Kivu province, securing the the full length of Rwanda’s border with Congo.
The group is also quick to levy taxes on the areas it occupies, suggesting that it is attempting to set up a parallel state. All goods entering Goma, for instance, are now subject to taxation. And for the last year, M23 has held the territory of Rubaya, known for its rich deposits of coltan, which is used in the batteries that power mobile phones, laptops, and electric vehicles. Although M23 claims it is not mining coltan itself, the United Nations says it is extracting $800,000 in taxes monthly from miners and traders in Rubaya.
Mr. Nangaa says the group does this “because we are the state authority now.”
A tense resolution
In April, following peace talks held in Qatar, M23 and the Congolese government announced an immediate ceasefire, while promising to work toward a permanent agreement. In a separate deal brokered by the U.S. on April 27, Congo and Rwanda also pledged to stop supporting rival armed groups. Washington is simultaneously in talks with both countries about investing in critical minerals. A draft peace agreement is expected on Friday. But several ceasefires have been announced and then broken down since the M23 conflict began in 2021.
Goma residents, meanwhile, have accepted their new government, but more out of numb resignation than out of optimism.
Gertude Mawazo Rwandowa’s house was hit by a rocket when M23 took over the city, shell fragments cutting her head and leg. “I built this house all by myself without any help from anyone,” she says.
Now she wonders if it is worth it to start again.
