DRC: Government offers reward for arrest of M23 leaders
A $5 million reward for the capture of the armed group’s leaders
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) announced on Friday a $5 million reward for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of the main leaders of the M23 armed group. This decision comes after the rebel movement recently took control of two major towns in the east of the country.
The Ministry of Justice stated in a press release that this bonus concerns Corneille Nangaa, a member of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) to which the M23 belongs, as well as Bertrand Bisimwa and Sultani Makenga, respectively president and military leader of the movement.
Death sentences and a hunt for accomplices
Tried in absentia by the Congolese military justice system in August 2024, the three men were sentenced to death for their role in the ongoing conflict. In addition to the bounty, the government is offering $4 million for any information leading to the arrest of “their fugitive accomplices” and other actively wanted persons.
A devastating conflict and an M23 offensive
Supported by some 4,000 Rwandan soldiers, according to UN experts, the M23 took up arms against the Kinshasa government at the end of 2021. Since then, it has conquered vast territories in the provinces of North and South Kivu, bordering Rwanda. At the end of January, a lightning offensive enabled the rebel group to capture Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capitals.
Eastern DRC has been plagued by violence for almost three decades, fueling a major humanitarian crisis. The Congolese government, faced with the rapid advance of the M23, hopes that these rewards will help to find and neutralize the movement’s leaders.
