Deadly clashes have been continuing in the North Kivu region, located in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for a long time leading to the death of millions of people. More than six million people have been maimed, living as internally displaced persons (IDP), residing in camps within DR Congo or leading miserable lives in refugee camps in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda to name a few. After a hiatus, as this article is written, M23 rebels are marching ahead towards Goma, the capital city of North Kivu region, with conventional weapons a well as non conventional ones- raping women to instil fear psychosis and abducting children for use as child soldiers. Some reports suggest that the rebels are within 20-30 kilometres from Goma, leaving the residents in panic as they are leaving the city and moving with whatever they can carry on their self towards the shelter of camps provided by the Congolese government and MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo.
My flight from Johannesburg to Mumbai was scheduled for departure after two hours as I sat and waited in the near empty airport lounge. The only other occupant of the lounge was a couple along with 8-10 of their children of various ages. While the little ones were running and playing games inside the lounge, I I noticed that the entire family was immaculately dressed in the finest of high-end attire. Their father was engrossed in the La Monde while his wife watched over the children. Soon an airport official came over to us announcing the departure of a special flight to Goma. The gentleman, measuring approximately 6.5 feet replied that his family was ready to board the flight and that they were the only passengers on this aircraft. The official reconfirmed mentioning that the said aircraft was a 737 Boeing. The gentleman nodded in affirmation. Perplexed at this, I struck a casual conversation with him inquiring about his line of business. He informed me that he was a leader of RCD (Rally For Congolese Democracy), based in Goma and was in Joburg to attend a peace conference brokered by South Africa. The family’s expensive clothing and the heavy gold and diamonds worn by the couple suggested that this trip where business and shopping might have intertwined.
At the time I was working in the Africa Division of our Ministry of External Affairs and had recently prepared an exhaustive internal report on the ongoing conflict in the DRC. I now witnessed that in a region left impoverished by years of armed conflict and exploitation, the leader of a group enjoyed travel on private jet. Among many negative forces, the Goma faction of the (RCD) (supported by Rwanda and Uganda at its inception) was the main combatant there. The gentleman also mentioned to me that they had made a runway in Goma suitable for landing of heavy aircraft.