Protection for Sale? War and the Transformation of Regulation on the Congo–Ugandan Border

Abstract

This article proposes an explanation for the emergence of non-state governance in situations of apparent state collapse, based on an ethnographic study of the armed rebellion in Butembo (eastern Democratic Republic of Congo). The model of explanation is inspired by Charles Tilly's description of state making as organized crime, in which armed rebels and private economic agents enter an agreement for private protection. The study seeks to explain how an original meeting between Butembo's armed rebels of the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie -Mouvement de Libération (RCD-ML) and an existing network of cross-border traders actually led to a 'pluralizing' moment, in which the reinterpretation of existing relations and regulatory practices contributed to a gradual transformation of the institutional framework and local governance. Recently, this local political order has entered into increasing competition with the internationally induced project of political 'transition', based on a conflict between dynamics of state building and translocal political (trans)formation.

The Strength of Weak States? Non‐State Security Forces and Hybrid Governance in Africa

“…This 'authority' involves arrogating to themselves financial and juridical powers that are beyond their remit, and which violate state law. Yet, proponents argue that the convergence of formal recognition, local service provision and economic dynamism has precipitated a 'pluralizing moment' in which regulatory authority has shifted from the distant Congolese state to this local network of militant, business and public actors (Raeymaekers, 2010;Vlassenroot and Raeymaekers, 2008). By providing security, facilitating direct linkages to the global economy and institutionalizing a new system of local governance, the 'militia-formerly-known-as-RCD-ML' and its network of businessmen and public officials have supplanted the weak and extractive authority of the Congolese state to become the legitimate regulatory authorities in the area.…”

“…By providing security, facilitating direct linkages to the global economy and institutionalizing a new system of local governance, the 'militia-formerly-known-as-RCD-ML' and its network of businessmen and public officials have supplanted the weak and extractive authority of the Congolese state to become the legitimate regulatory authorities in the area. In short, they have been transformed from law breakers into law makers (Raeymaekers, 2010).…”

“…While emphasizing the regulatory role of the RCD-ML, even Raeymaekers (2010) acknowledges that the militia has an oppressive relationship with the bulk of local society. He points out that they have emerged from a Nande commercial elite whose accumulation has depended since colonial times on collusion with colonial and later Zairian state authorities against the interests of the local people.…”

“…Despite agreements to integrate their fighters into the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) from 2003, the RCD-ML have retained their best soldiers for the private militia that still operates in Butembo and surrounding areas, seven years after they were supposed to have been integrated or demobilized. Nevertheless, their leader, Mbusa Nyamwisi, remains a minister in the central government (Amnesty International, 2005;Raeymaekers, 2010;Turner, 2007). The militia have also resisted fiscal integration, operating a parallel tax system that diverts import-export duties to fund a parallel political and military system.…”

War rape survivors of the Second Congo War: A perspective from symbolic convergence theory

“…Millions of Congolese are still being displaced from their locations (Cook 2013). The next section explains the adverse effects of war rape on women and why men have used sexual assault as a weapon in the DRC (Raeymaekers 2010).…”