Residents of Kanyabayonga, a rural village in the Bwito district of Rutshuru (North Kivu), have complained about “Wazalendo” tracasseries.
The Wazalendo who have stood up to fight the M23, have seized different Territories under which they have imposed their own rules including passenger tax pay which the civil society of Kanyabayonga, has highly condemned but to ensure their survival, Wazalendo militia group have erected illegal barriers and force travelers to pay such outrageous fees, according to local civic society.
Kanyabayonga’s civil society members saw these fighters as FARDC recruits to keep on fighting the M23 as ceasefire is along way.
Also M23 has condemned Wazalendo attacks as FARDC reliant.
As a result, they advocate for the government to properly charge these combatants.
This is to avoid “any uprising movement of the population already exasperated by the embarrassments of these combatants,” according to Kanyabayonga’s civil society president, Daniel Muhindo Senge
According to the same source, similar tracasseries have been detected in other areas under Wazalendo militia group.