Pepa | |
|---|---|
  Pepa | |
| Coordinates: 7°42′38″S29°46′33″E / 7.710609°S 29.775953°E | |
| Country |  DR Congo |
| Province | Tanganyika |
| Territory | Moba |
| Population (2010) | |
• Total | 24,767 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (CAT) |
| Climate | Cwb |
| National language | Swahili |
Pepa is a community in the southeast of Tanganyika province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located 167 kilometres northeast by road from Pweto, to the west of Lake Tanganyika.
Pepa is in Moba territory in the southeast of Tanganyika province. The village is surrounded by high plateau grasslands. It was the home of the Belgian-owned Societé Elgima Pepa until the 1990s, a huge cattle farm that employed 1,200 local people. [1]
During the Second Congo War (1998-2003) the region became a battle zone between government forces and rebel groups. Most of the people fled to Zambia and almost all the cattle were taken. [1] The area between Pweto, Moba and Moliro has been called the "Triangle of Death". [2] In 2000 the town was held by RCD-Goma forces and the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA). [3] In April 2000 a Rwandan airforce Antonov An-8 crashed on take-off from the Pepa airstrip killing the crew of four and about 20 Rwandan soldiers including a Rwanda army major, two captains and two lieutenants. Other reports place the death toll as high as 57. [4]
In October 2000 Pepa was captured in an offensive by DRC government troops and their allies. The RCD-Goma and RPA forces counter-attacked and recaptured Pepa in November 2000. [5]
In October 2000, 10 000 AFDL troops (including Hutu, and Zimbabwean) assaulted at Mutoko Moya (west of Pepa) against 3000 Rwanda/Burundi/RCD forces, forcing them to retreat to Pepa. Zimbabwe Air Force bombers were used. 6000 RCD reinforcements crossed from Burundi across the lake to counterattack. For two days, and hundreds of casualties, there was no result. Then a light battalion was sent on a long outflanking manoeuver, which led to success. The AFDL retreated to Pweto. [6] The Rwandans took other places in the area including Pweto and Moba early in December 2000. [3] By the end of the war buildings that had been used by the military were dilapidated and the community was littered with unexploded and abandoned ordnance. [1]
Pepa was an old Belgian commercial farm, in 2010 there were 200 cows left. Pepa changed hands three times in 2000, during the Second Congolese War. The Mai Mai finally occupied Pepa from 2003 until a village strike (collectively refused to work for them) forced them to leave, in 2006. [7]
About 4,000 people trickled back to Pepa after the war, where aid workers educated them in avoiding the dangers of mines and other explosives. By 2010 the herd of cattle numbered 270 and was steadily growing. [1]
Laurent-Désiré Kabila usually known as Laurent Kabila, was a Congolese rebel and politician who served as the third president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1997 until his assassination in 2001.
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South Kivu is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Its capital is Bukavu.
The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted when Congolese president Laurent-Désiré Kabila turned against his former allies from Rwanda and Uganda, who had helped him seize power. Eventually, the conflict expanded, drawing in nine African nations and approximately 25 armed groups, making it one of the largest wars in African history.
Goma is the capital and largest city of the North Kivu Province in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu and shares borders with Bukumu Chiefdom to the north, Rwanda to the east and Masisi Territory to the west. The city lies in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift, and is only 13–18 km (8.1–11.2 mi) south of the active volcano Mount Nyiragongo. With an approximate area of 75.72 km2 (29.24 sq mi), the city has an estimated population of nearly 2 million people according to the 2022 census.
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The First Congo War, also known as Africa's First World War, was a civil and international military conflict that lasted from 24 October 1996 to 16 May 1997, primarily taking place in Zaire. The war resulted in the overthrow of Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko, who was replaced by rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila. This conflict, which also involved multiple neighboring countries, set the stage for the Second Congo War (1998–2003) due to tensions between Kabila and his former allies.
The Army for the Liberation of Rwanda was a rebel group largely composed of former members of the Interahamwe and Rwandan Armed Forces. Operating mostly in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo along the border with Rwanda, it carried out attacks throughout the Second Congo War against forces aligned with Rwanda and Uganda. In 2000, the ALiR agreed to merge with the Hutu resistance movement based in Kinshasa into the new Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). ALiR was largely supplanted by the FDLR by 2001.
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WalunguTerritory is a territory located within the South Kivu Province in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Situated approximately 40 km from Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu Province, it shares borders with Kabare Territory to the north, Mwenga Territory to the south, Uvira Territory and the Ruzizi River, as well as the Republics of Rwanda and Burundi to the east, and Shabunda Territory and part of Kabare Territory to the west. According to the 2018 national census, the region has a population of 716,671, with 672,436 residing in the Ngweshe Chiefdom and 44,235 in the Kaziba Chiefdom. Spanning an area of 1,800 km2, Walungu Territory has a population density of 398 inhabitants per square kilometer.
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The Congolese Rally for Democracy–Goma was a faction of the Congolese Rally for Democracy, a rebel movement based in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the Second Congo War (1998–2003). After the war, some members of the group continued sporadic fighting in North Kivu. The movement also entered mainstream politics, participating in democratic elections with little success.
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