{{Short description|Village in Bafuliiru Chiefdom, South Kivu}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}}
{{Infobox settlement | name = Mulenge | settlement_type = Village | pushpin_map = Democratic Republic of the Congo | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|Democratic Republic of the Congo}} | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_type2 = Territory | subdivision_type3 = Chiefdom | subdivision_type4 = Grouping | subdivision_name1 = South Kivu | subdivision_name2 = Uvira | subdivision_name3 = Bafuliiru | subdivision_name4 = Kigoma | utc_offset = +2 | timezone1 = CAT | image_skyline = | image_caption = | imagesize = 240px }}
'''Mulenge''' is a village encircled by hills in the Kigoma ''groupement'', within Bafuliiru Chiefdom, located in the Uvira Territory, South Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Mukunde |first=Abel |date=2007 |title=Bilan humain des conflits armés et ses conséquences sur le développement du territoire d'Uvira de 1996 à 2005 |trans-title=Human toll of armed conflicts and its consequences on the development of the Uvira territory from 1996 to 2005 |url=https://www.memoireonline.com/02/23/13805/m_Bilan-humain-des-conflits-arms-et-ses-consquences-sur-le-dveloppement-du-territoire-d9.html |access-date=17 November 2024 |publisher=Institut Supérieur de Développement Rural de Bukavu |language=fr |publication-place=Bukavu, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1 November 2024 |title=RD Congo: Situation humanitaire dans la province du Sud-Kivu (1er au 30 septembre 2024) |trans-title=DR Congo: Humanitarian situation in the province of South Kivu (1 September to 30 2024) |url=https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/democratic-republic-congo/rd-congo-situation-humanitaire-dans-la-province-du-sud-kivu-1er-au-30-septembre-2024 |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=21 April 2022 |title=Projet Unicef Reponse Rapide (UNIRR): Rapport d’intervention dans la zone de. Sante de lemera en territoire d'uvira |trans-title=UNICEF Rapid Response Project (UNIRR): Intervention report in the Lemera health zone in Uvira Territory. |url=https://tpordc.org/rapport_tpo_all/21%2004%202022_%20UniRR%20_TPO_RAPPORT%20D'INTERVENTION%20_ZS%20%20LEMERA.pdf |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=Tpordc.org |publisher=Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO-DRC) |page=12 |language=fr |publication-place=Bukavu, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Journal_of_Religion_in_Africa/tkIKAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Mulenge%20bafulero |title=Journal of Religion in Africa: Religion en Afrique, Volume 31 |date=2001 |publisher=Brill Publishers |pages=150 |language=en, fr}}</ref> Perched on the Itombwe massif's high plateaus, it overlooks Uvira. Historically, the area has been inhabited by remnants of Bantu communities like the Fuliiru people whom are the original inhabitants of region, and some Nyindu communities.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kabongo |first=Joel Kayeye |date=5 October 2020 |title=L'auto-détermination des peuples: principe de base en prélude d'exécution en RDC? Cas de Minembwe |trans-title=Self-determination of peoples: basic principle as a prelude to execution in the DRC? Case of Minembwe |url=https://actualite.cd/2020/10/05/lauto-determination-des-peuples-principe-de-base-en-prelude-dexecution-en-rdc-cas-de |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=Actualite.cd |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kishamata |first=Jérôme Katongo |title=Monographie de la Cheffeerie des Bafuliiru |trans-title=Monograph of the Bafuliiru Chiefdom |url=https://www.africmemoire.com/part.4-monographie-de-la-cheffeerie-des-bafuliiru-628.html |access-date=25 June 2023 |website=Africmemoire.com |language=fr}}</ref><ref name="Hautmann 1939">{{Cite journal |last=Hautmann |first=Frédéric |date=1939 |title=Étude ethnographique de l'Itombwe (district du Kivu, Congo Belge) |journal=Geographica Helvetica|volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=175–177 |doi=10.5194/gh-4-175-1949 |s2cid=180994095 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The region's economy is centered around agriculture, family livestock breeding, and fishing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ntabala |first=Thierry |title=Canal de Kakamba, le goulot d'étranglement de la riziculture à Luvungi |trans-title=Kakamba Canal, the bottleneck of rice cultivation in Luvungi |url=https://congo.rikolto.org/fr/actualites/canal-de-kakamba-le-goulot-detranglement-de-la-riziculture-luvungi |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=congo.rikolto.org |language=fr}}</ref>
== Etymology == The name "''Mulenge''" originates from the Fuliiru language, spoken by the Fuliiru people, who migrated to Uvira Territory from Lwindi Chiefdom, a region near the Ulindi River in the rugged hinterlands of Mwenga Territory, around the seventeenth century.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Sabuni |first=Abel Mukunde |date=2007 |title=Bilan humain des conflits armés et ses conséquences sur le développement du territoire d'Uvira de 1996 à 2005 |trans-title=Human toll of armed conflicts and its consequences on the development of the Uvira territory from 1996 to 2005 |url=https://www.memoireonline.com/11/22/13250/m_Bilan-humain-des-conflits-arms-et-ses-consquences-sur-le-dveloppement-du-territoire-d-Uv9.html |access-date=30 December 2023 |publisher=Institut Supérieur de Développement Rural de Bukavu (ISDR) |language=French |publication-place=Bukavu, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Chubaka |first=Bishikwabo |date=1987 |title=Aux Origines de la Ville d'Uvira Selon les Explorateurs et les Pionniers de la Colonisation Belge Au Zaire (1840-1914) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41968746 |journal=Civilisations |language=fr |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=83–126 |issn=0009-8140 |jstor=41968746}}</ref> "''Mulenge''" is believed to derive from a Fuliiru word for the shinbone.<ref name=":12" /> == History == Mulenge has historically been inhabited by the Fuliiru people, who migrated from Lwindi (now Luindi Chiefdom) towards the present-day Uvira, and settled in the mountainous terrain.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moeller de Laddersous |first=Alfred |date=1936 |title=Les grandes lignes des migrations des Bantus de la province orientale du Congo belge |url=https://www.congoforum.be/Upldocs/1_pdfsam_Moeller%201936%20Migrations%20dans%20la%20PO.compressed.pdf |access-date=9 February 2023 |page=136 |language=fr}}</ref> Congolese researcher Shimbi Kamba Katchelewa of the University of Montreal notes that Mulenge, along with Luvungi and Lemera, were key sites where the first Bafuliiru from Lwindi settled between the 10th and 14th centuries, forming the basis for the eventual establishment of a "kingdom" under a Hamba clan ruler.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Kakozi |first=Charles Katembo |date=2005 |title=Facteurs socio-politiques explicatifs des conflits dans la région des grands lacs Africains: Étude du cas d'Uvira en RDC à partir d'informateurs vivant à l'étranger |trans-title=Socio-political factors explaining conflicts in the African Great Lakes region: Study of the case of Uvira in the DRC based on informants living abroad |url=https://ddata.over-blog.com/3/15/38/72/TELECHARGEMENT/ORIGINE-DES-CONFLITS-EN-RDC-QUI-EST-LE-RESPONSABLE-DU-DRAME.pdf |access-date=5 March 2025 |publisher=Université Laval |page=17 |language=fr |publication-place=Quebec City, Quebec, Canada}}</ref> The Bahamba traditionally held authority in the area, with Lemera as their capital.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=Culture et société, Volume 4 |publisher=Ministère de la jeunesse, des sports et de la culture, Centre de civilisation burundaise |year=1981 |location=Bujumbura, Burundi |pages=108–109 |language=French}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Les Cahiers du CEDAF |publisher=Centre d'étude et de documentation africaines |year=1979 |location=Tervuren, Belgium |pages=7–8 |language=French}}</ref> Lemera itself was named after ''Mulemera'', the father of Kahamba, the dynasty's founder. Historian Bishikwabo Chubaka indicate that the Bahamba clan's control extended across the northwestern Ruzizi Plain, from Uvira to Luvungi.<ref name=":1" />
=== Interethnic and regional conflicts === {{Further information|Simba rebellion|Second Congo War}} By the 1920s, Mulenge began attracting Tutsi pastoralists searching for grazing land in the Itombwe Highlands.<ref name=":1422">{{Cite book |last=Depelchin |first=Jacques |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6cJFAAAAIAAJ&q=Kahamba%20Kalingisi |title=From Pre-capitalism to Imperialism: A History of Social and Economic Formations in Eastern Zaire |date=1974 |publisher=Stanford University |location=Stanford, California, United States |pages=70–71 |language=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kakozi |first=Charles Katembo |date=2005 |title=Facteurs socio-politiques explicatifs des conflits dans la région des grands lacs Africains: Étude du cas d'Uvira en RDC à partir d'informateurs vivant à l'étranger |trans-title=Socio-political factors explaining conflicts in the African Great Lakes region: Study of the case of Uvira in the DRC based on informants living abroad |url=https://ddata.over-blog.com/3/15/38/72/TELECHARGEMENT/ORIGINE-DES-CONFLITS-EN-RDC-QUI-EST-LE-RESPONSABLE-DU-DRAME.pdf |access-date=5 March 2025 |publisher=Université Laval |page=18 |language=fr |publication-place=Quebec City, Quebec, Canada}}</ref><ref name="Hautmann 1939" /> Scholars have characterized these migrants as foreign groups. René Lemarchand described them as "renegades from Rwanda",<ref name=":8" /> while Daniel P. Biebuyck stated that they migrated "from Rwanda via the territory of Uvira".<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last=Biebuyck |first=Daniel P. |date=1952 |title=The Seniority Principle in the Bembe Marriage System |url=https://danielbiebuyck.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/bembe-seniority.pdf |access-date=June 17, 2024 |website=Danielbiebuyck.com |pages=2}}</ref> In ''Mayhem in the Mountains: How Violent Conflict on the Hauts Plateaux of South Kivu Escalated'', Judith Verweijen, Juvénal Twaibu, Moïse Ribakare, Paul Bulambo, and Freddy Mwambi Kasongo noted that these groups moved to present-day Uvira Territory from what is now Rwanda, as well as from present-day Burundi.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Verweijen |first=Judith |last2=Twaibu |first2=Juvénal |last3=Ribakare |first3=Moïse |last4=Bulambo |first4=Paul |last5=Kasongo |first5=Freddy Mwambi |date=April 2021 |title=Mayhem in the mountains: How violent conflict on the Hauts Plateaux of South Kivu escalated. |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/427394903.pdf |access-date=11 March 2025 |website=Core.ac.uk |publisher=Governance in Conflict Network (GIC Network) |pages=15–16 |publication-place=Ghent, Belgium}}</ref> Alfred Moeller de Laddersous, a colonial administrator known for his extensive studies on Bantu communities in eastern Belgian Congo, classified the Tutsi of eastern Congo as "Hamite invaders" and asserted that the Banyarwanda, as a broader ethnolinguistic group, were not the region's original inhabitants.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Moeller |first=Alfred |url=https://www.congoforum.be/Upldocs/1_pdfsam_Moeller%201936%20Migrations%20dans%20la%20PO.compressed.pdf |title=Les grandes lignes des migrations des Bantus de la province orientale du Congo Belge |publisher=G. van Campenhout |year=1936 |location=Belgium |pages=111–112 |language=French |trans-title=The broad outlines of the migrations of the Bantus of Orientale province of Belgian Congo |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref> He also observed that the Barundi of Uvira Territory were of Bahutu origin, having settled in the Ruzizi Plain between Luvungi and Kiliba before expanding northward between Luvungi and Kamanyola.<ref name=":9" /> [[File:Mwami Nyamugira Mukogabwe II of Bafuliiru Chiefdom, 1925, Congo Belge.jpg|thumb|236x236px|Mwami Nyamugira Mukogabwe II of Bafuliiru Chiefdom in Nia Magira (Lemera), circa 1925]]Regarding the Tutsi pastoralists, the Fuliiru ''mwami'', Nyamugira Mukogabwe II, granted them grazing land in exchange for livestock tributes. These pastoralists established settlements between Mulenge and the upper Sange River, subsequently ceasing their previous tributary obligations to the Rwandan monarchy.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Pottier |first=Johan |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Re_Imagining_Rwanda/iRz_QzoVdJcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Mulenge+bafulero&pg=PA16&printsec=frontcover |title=Re-Imagining Rwanda: Conflict, Survival and Disinformation in the Late Twentieth Century |date=26 September 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52873-3 |pages=16–18 |language=en}}</ref> Mulenge became the immigrants' "quasi-capital, while the migrants began to be referred to as ''Banya-Mulenge''".<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":182">{{Cite web |date=3 June 2011 |title=Au-delà des "groupes armés": Conflits locaux et connexions sous-regionales L'exemple de Fizi et Uvira (Sud-Kivu, RDC) |trans-title=Beyond "armed groups": Local conflicts and sub-regional connections The example of Fizi and Uvira (South Kivu, DRC) |url=https://assets.ctfassets.net/jzxyrkiixcim/6Eaz1Te5UjWdGVvoGm2jLQ/bae90570fcb8c56187821ce0e7afbe86/LPI_2011_Au-dela_des_groupes_armes__Uvira__Fizi.pdf |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=Life & Peace Institute |page=29 |language=fr}}</ref> Tensions arose by 1924 when Mwami Mukogabwe's increasing demands resulted in the depletion of Tutsi cattle herds, prompting many Banyamulenge to migrate southward to Itombwe in search of isolation and better grazing land.<ref name=":0" /> These raids were not directed solely at Banyamulenge; wealthy Fuliiru cattle keepers were also among his victims. However, because the Banyamulenge generally maintained the largest herds, they were disproportionately affected and often became ''Mwami'' Mukogabwe's main targets.<ref name=":1422" /> Paradoxically, this movement deepened their reliance on Fuliiru farmers for food, as cattle remained an essential part of Fuliiru bridewealth. The Fuliiru recall experiencing systemic marginalization in 1927, which fueled long-standing resentment toward the newcomers.<ref name=":0" /> After Mukogabwe's death in 1930, tensions persisted as Banyamulenge sought colonial intervention to facilitate their reintegration into Mulenge. Belgian authorities, sympathetic to their return, assisted in their resettlement.<ref name=":2" />
On 25 February 1938, Mulenge was formally incorporated into the administrative framework of Uvira Territory under Ordinance-Law No. 21/91. It was designated as an administrative post alongside Makobola and Luvungi within Bafuliiru Chiefdom.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Ruhebuza |first=Honoré Mapenzi |date=September 2021 |title=Le déclassement social dans les communes urbaines de Mulongwe et Kalundu, ville d'Uvira en République Démocratique du Congo |trans-title=Social downgrading in the urban communes of Mulongwe and Kalundu, city of Uvira in the Democratic Republic of Congo |url=https://repository.ub.edu.bi/server/api/core/bitstreams/63e386d2-a2d0-4c27-bc3c-d1e01729afba/content |access-date=3 November 2024 |publisher=University of Burundi |pages=20–21 |language=fr |publication-place=Bujumbura, Burundi}}</ref> While Banyamulenge were a culturally and linguistically distinct community, their eponym "never appears in colonial records",<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Lemarchand |first=René |date=May 1999 |title=Ethnicity as Myth: The View from the Central Africa |url=https://teol.ku.dk/cas/publications/publications/occ._papers/lemarchand1999.pdf |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=Centre of African Studies, University of Copenhagen |page=15}}</ref> nor were they granted a chiefdom (''collectivité''), which left them politically disadvantaged in a system where ethnic administrative divisions shaped governance.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":18">{{Cite web |date=3 June 2011 |title=Au-delà des "groupes armés": Conflits locaux et connexions sous-regionales L'exemple de Fizi et Uvira (Sud-Kivu, RDC) |trans-title=Beyond "armed groups": Local conflicts and sub-regional connections The example of Fizi and Uvira (South Kivu, DRC) |url=https://assets.ctfassets.net/jzxyrkiixcim/6Eaz1Te5UjWdGVvoGm2jLQ/bae90570fcb8c56187821ce0e7afbe86/LPI_2011_Au-dela_des_groupes_armes__Uvira__Fizi.pdf |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=Life & Peace Institute |page=28 |language=fr}}</ref> During this colonial era, Belgian settlers built a police station in the village, and directly in front of it lay a football field, which served multiple purposes—a site for public whippings, and a marketplace for trading goods between villagers and settlers.<ref name=":7" />
During the 1963–65 Simba Rebellion, which erupted across eastern Congo due to widespread discontent over post-independence governance, Banyamulenge suffered significant losses of their cattle.<ref name=":0" /> The rebellion, particularly in South Kivu, exposed ethnic divisions, as insurgents, drawn largely from the Bafuliiru, Bavira, and Babembe, targeted wealthy individuals, including those of Rwandan and Burundian descent.<ref name=":0" /> Amid increasing competition for land, the Bafuliiru, asserting their status as indigenous inhabitants, strongly opposed the continued presence of Rwandophone immigrants. The widespread loss of livestock forced some Banyamulenge to abandon cattle herding in favor of agricultural labor.<ref name=":0" /> By the early 1970s, economic relations between the Banyamulenge and the Fuliiru deteriorated. The Fuliiru, realizing they could obtain more cattle through market transactions rather than traditional exchanges, became less willing to supply food to the Banyamulenge.<ref name=":0" /> This shift further strained relations, as both communities felt economically disadvantaged by the other. Resentment over the events of 1964, particularly the loss of Banyamulenge herds, led them to side with President Mobutu Sese Seko's national army when it suppressed the rebellion in 1966.<ref name=":0" /> Since around 1976, some Tutsi immigrants began identifying as ''Banya-Mulenge'', a designation that the Bafuliiru viewed as an attempt to obscure their Rwandan origins and stake a territorial claim.<ref name=":7" /> This longstanding dispute resurfaced during the First Congo War, when a substantial number of Banyamulenge fighters joined the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL), participating in extrajudicial killings and acts of sexual violence against other ethnic communities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 June 2009 |title=Attacks against Hutu refugees – Uvira territory (South Kivu) |url=https://www.mapping-report.org/en/attacks-against-hutu-refugees-uvira-territory-sud-kivu/ |access-date=5 March 2025 |website=Mapping-report.org |publisher=The Democratic Republic of the Congo 1993-2003 United Nations Mapping Report |language=en-US}}</ref> In October 1998, at the onset of the Second Congo War, the AFDL, with support from Banyamulenge, carried out numerous atrocities against civilians in Uvira. Many lost their lives to AFDL's violence, including the former Mulenge post chief, Ladislas Matalambu, who was killed on 1 October 1998, at 7:30 p.m., and Alexis Deyidedi, the former administrative secretary of the Bafuliiru Chiefdom, who was assassinated on 2 October 1998, at 11 p.m. Homes and businesses were looted, set ablaze, and destroyed.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 May 1997 |title=The End Of Mobutu's Dictatorship - Democratic Republic of the Congo |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/end-mobutus-dictatorship |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=ReliefWeb |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 1998 |title=Democratic Republic of Congo situation of selected groups |url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2014/08/04/ISSUES_PAPER_SITUATION-OF-SELECTED-GROUPS.pdf |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=Issue Paper, Situation of selected groups}}</ref>
=== Ongoing security problems === [[File:Kivu road.jpg|thumb|Mixed group of Bafuliiru and Banyamulenge repairing a road between Lemera and Mulenge, ca. 2003]] On 10 June 2004, up to 3,500 Congolese, mostly Bafuliiru and Babembe, fled to Burundi, fleeing ethnic persecution.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 June 2004 |title=Thousands of Congolese refugees continue to flood into Burundi, UN says {{!}} UN News |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2004/06/106512 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=News.un.org |language=en}}</ref> In 2009, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) launched Operation Kimia II in South Kivu with the objective of neutralizing elements of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a non-state armed group. As part of the operation, a FARDC battalion was deployed in Mulenge, where, by mid-August, intense clashes between the FDLR and government forces led to the displacement of much of the local civilian population to the nearby village of Mugaja.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |date=17 May 2016 |title=Lemera/Mulenge case: the long way from conviction to reparations in DRC |url=https://trialinternational.org/latest-post/lemera/ |access-date=4 October 2025 |website=Trialinternational.org |publisher=TRIAL International |language=en-US |publication-place=Geneva, Switzerland}}</ref> Due to severe food shortages, a group of displaced people, including seven women, one of whom was blind and two of whom were pregnant, attempted to return to Mulenge to harvest their crops.<ref name=":10" /> After their return on 18 August 2009, they were assaulted and raped by several FARDC soldiers, five of whom were later convicted of crimes against humanity by the military tribunal in Uvira on 30 October 2010 for their roles in the incident.<ref name=":10" /> On 2 July 2014, a Kitembe resident was killed in Kiriama, and a week earlier, another person was fatally ambushed by armed assailants in Kashengo while traveling on foot through the Bibangwa forest toward Mulenge.<ref name=":27">{{Cite web |date=4 July 2014 |title=Uvira: une ONG locale dénonce le port d'armes de guerre par les civils |trans-title=Uvira: Local NGO denounces civilians carrying weapons of war |url=https://www.radiookapi.net/actualite/2014/07/04/uvira-ong-locale-denonce-le-port-darmes-de-guerre-par-les-civils |access-date=17 October 2025 |website=Radio Okapi |language=fr}}</ref> Local NGOs reported that FNL rebels and FDLR fighters were involved in supplying militias with firearms, including Chinese-made AK-47s, which were allegedly sold for $40 to $50.<ref name=":27" />
On 16 January 2019, clashes erupted between Burundian rebel factions, including FOREBU, RED-Tabara, and the FNL, and other several Burundian militias.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=16 January 2019 |title=Sud-Kivu: au moins 17 morts dans des combats entre rebelles et miliciens burundais aux plateaux d'Uvira |trans-title=South Kivu: At least 17 dead in fighting between rebels and Burundian militias on the Uvira plateaus |url=https://www.radiookapi.net/2019/01/16/actualite/securite/sud-kivu-au-moins-17-morts-dans-des-combats-entre-rebelles-et |access-date=17 November 2024 |website=Radio Okapi |language=fr}}</ref> The conflict, which originated in Kabere, 20 kilometers west of Sange, spilled over into adjacent localities, including Mubere and Mulenge, resulting in at least 17 fatalities.<ref name=":3" /> By 22 January 2019, the coalition comprising RED-Tabara, FNL, and Mai-Mai Kihebe, commanded by Kihebe Ngabunga, was expelled from Kifuni village, where they had sought refuge on 20 January following their defeat in Mulenge at the hands of Burundian Imbonerakure militia, bolstered by Congolese Mai-Mai contingents.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=23 January 2019 |title=Des milices burundaises s'affrontent à Uvira |trans-title=Burundian militias clash in Uvira |url=https://www.radiookapi.net/2019/01/23/actualite/securite/des-milices-burundaises-saffrontent-uvira |access-date=17 November 2024 |website=Radio Okapi |language=fr}}</ref> This coalition regained control of territories spanning Kabere, Mubere, and Mulenge in the middle plateaus of the Kigoma ''groupement''.<ref name=":4" /> The skirmishes culminated in the deaths of five people, including four rebels and one Mai-Mai combatant, alongside injuries sustained by militia members. These hostilities triggered further displacement, with uprooted populations seeking shelter in school facilities and among host families, where they were deprived of fundamental necessities.<ref name=":4" />
On 31 January 2019, civil society representatives and elders from the Bavira, Banyamulenge, Bafuliiru, Banyindu, and Babembe communities appealed to the United Nations Security Council to address the proliferation of Burundian and Rwandan armed groups in the DRC.<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 January 2019 |title=Uvira: la société civile demande l’implication du Conseil de sécurité contre les groupes armés étrangers |trans-title=Uvira: Civil society calls for the involvement of the Security Council against foreign armed groups |url=https://www.radiookapi.net/2019/01/31/actualite/securite/uvira-la-societe-civile-demande-limplication-du-conseil-de-securite |access-date=17 November 2024 |website=Radio Okapi |language=fr}}</ref> By early February, the Burundian military commenced a phased withdrawal, dismantling RED-Tabara rebel strongholds.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=7 February 2019 |title=RDC: les déplacés en détresse après les combats entre armée et rebelles burundais à Uvira |trans-title=DRC: Displaced people in distress after fighting between army and Burundian rebels in Uvira |url=https://www.radiookapi.net/2019/02/07/actualite/securite/rdc-les-deplaces-en-detresse-apres-les-combats-entre-armee-et-rebelles |access-date=17 November 2024 |website=Radio Okapi |language=fr}}</ref> However, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), deployed to secure the region, established unauthorized checkpoints in former rebel-occupied zones, where reports of harassment and extortion on market days emerged.<ref name=":6" /> On 21 February 2019, Kihebe Ngabunga surrendered to FARDC forces, accompanied by a cohort of approximately ten combatants, and relinquished two military-grade firearms.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 February 2019 |title=Sud-Kivu: le chef Maï-Maï Kihebe se rend aux FARDC |trans-title=South Kivu: Mai-Mai leader Kihebe surrenders to the FARDC |url=https://www.radiookapi.net/2019/02/23/actualite/securite/sud-kivu-le-chef-mai-mai-kihebe-se-rend-aux-fardc |access-date=17 November 2024 |website=Radio Okapi |language=fr}}</ref> On 11 August 2019, the FARDC's 123rd Special Commando Battalion replaced the 3,304th Regiment in Lubarika, currently stationed in Nyamutiri (mid-plateaus) and Mulenge.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 August 2019 |title=Sud-Kivu: la société civile salue la permutation des FARDC dans les moyens et hauts plateaux de la Ruzizi |trans-title=South Kivu: Civil society welcomes the FARDC's transfer to the middle and high plateaus of Ruzizi |url=https://www.radiookapi.net/2019/08/12/actualite/securite/sud-kivu-la-societe-civile-salue-la-permutation-des-fardc-dans-les |access-date=17 November 2024 |website=Radio Okapi |language=fr}}</ref>
== Climate == In Mulenge, the wet season is hot, humid, and overcast and the dry season is warm and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 62 °F to 86 °F and is rarely below 59 °F or above 90 °F.
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Populated places in South Kivu