The Kamwina Nsapu rebellion, also spelled Kamuina Nsapu rebellion, was an uprising that took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 2016 and 2019. It was instigated by the Kamwina Nsapu militia against state security forces in the provinces of Kasaï-Central, Kasaï, Kasaï-Oriental, Lomami and Sankuru. The fighting began after the militia, led by Kamwina Nsapu, attacked security forces in August 2016.
There was an ethnic aspect to the conflict: the rebels were mostly Luba and had selectively killed non-Luba.
Background
In 2011, Jean-Pierre Mpandi was designated to succeed his uncle and become the sixth head or Kamwina Nsapu (black ant) of his Bajila Kasanja clan, part of the wider Lulua ethnic group, after his return from South Africa where he had been convicted in a diamond-trafficking case. Such chiefs exercise significant control over land and are required to be recognized by the central state even if they are selected according to traditions. This policy encourages chiefs to support the Congolese central government to get its endorsement.
Mpandi's home region supported the opposition in the 2011 national elections, and tensions flared when the government appointed supporters, rather than tribal chiefs, to powerful positions in the local government. When Mpandi was about to be appointed head of the Bajila Kasanja clan, provincial governor Alex Kande told him that he would only confirm the appointment if Mpandi joined the governing party. Mpandi refused to do so, and began to openly question the provincial and national authorities' legitimacy. The central government consequently refused to recognise Kamwina Nsapu's appointment as chief. That led him to contest the central government's power, and he began calling for an insurrection in June 2016. At some point, an investigation team raided his home for the first time, ostensibly to search for illegal weapons. Mpandi was outraged, and accused the team of not only "profaning" his status as chief, but also of attempting to rape his wife.
Rebellion
Beginning of the uprising and Kamwina Nsapu's death
Kamwina Nsapu incited his men with xenophobic language, referring to the regular security forces as foreign mercenaries and an occupation force. He caused a militia, named after him, to launch attacks on the local police. On 12 August 2016, he was killed alongside eight other militiamen and 11 policemen in Tshimbulu. Upon his death, the Congolese Observatory for Human Rights condemned his killing and suggested he should have been arrested instead. The government did not bury his remains according to local customs, triggering outrage among his followers.
Several of his followers refused to believe that he was dead and escalated the violence by intensifying their attacks on the security forces. As the violence by Kamwina Nsapu's men escalated, the uprising spread, and an increasing number of locals picked up arms against the government. Kamwina Nsapu's death meant that the rebellion effectively fractured into numerous movements, "all fighting for different reasons". The security forces responded brutally, escalating the conflict.
Main phase, 2016–2017
In September 2016, Kamwina Nsapu's militia captured an area 180 km from Kananga and then captured the Kananga Airport before it was retaken by the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On 26 September 2016, the government announced that in total, 49 people had been killed (27 militiamen, 16 policemen and 6 civilians) and 185 militiamen captured since the fighting began.
In January 2017, four militiamen were killed, and two policemen were wounded. A few days later, the rebels called for the removal of the governor, Alex Kande, and protested the visit of Prime Minister Samy Badibanga. On 31 January 2017, a Roman Catholic priest from St. Alphonsus Parish in Kananga who tried to stop the militia from taking children from schools was kidnapped but was later released.
On 9 February 2017, fighting erupted in Tshimbulu between 300 militiamen and the armed forces in a reprisal attack by the militia. At least six people were killed, including one civilian. By the next day, 60 to 75 were reported killed by the armed forces, while at least two servicemen had been wounded. On 14 February, United Nations human rights spokeswoman Liz Throssell announced that at least 101 people had been killed by government forces between 9 and 13 February, with 39 women confirmed to have been among them.