DRC: Pygmy Warlord Sentenced to 15 years in Prison

A court sitting at Bukavu Military Garrison South Kivu has Sentenced Pygmy War world and chief Jean Marie Kasula and 5 of his followers to 15 years imprisonment and a fine of 1 million Congolese francs for violation of laws relating to nature conservation.

The group which includes 2 women was Friday last week arrested from Kahuzi-Biega National Park, a home to approximately 250 endangered mountain gorillas by DR Congo army, and charged with robbing and scaring away tourists and destruction of the ecosystem.

The 2 women were sentenced to one year of penal servitude imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 Congolese francs.

Reading out the sentences, Toussaint Lenda the presiding Judge said the sentences were meant to punish them for the heavy destruction they had done on the eco system.

“This punishment should act as a warning to anyone who wants or plans on destroying our parks and scare away tourists,” Judge Toussaint said.

The convicts will also pay a fine of 5,000 to the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) for the damage caused.

South Kivu has been a battleground for rival militias for a quarter of a century.

In 2018, Pygmies began to move on to land inside the park’s perimeter and started to cut down trees, mainly to make charcoal.

According to the park authorities, Pygmies have destroyed vast acres of woodland, act of deforestation that gnaws away at the gorillas’ habitat.

De-Dieu Bya’Ombe Balongelwa the park director says the 6,000 Pygmies living on the edge of the park have been egged on by influential figures in the region who include Army officers, provincial ministers, members of the provincial legislature and traders.

Their return led to open conflict between Pygmies and rangers in which people on both sides have been killed.

The latest clashes on Tuesday last week, Kasula’s men killed two civilians and injured a ranger.

Talking to media, Kasula in October, said his community had simply “decided to return to our land in strength”.

“We’ve been suffering for 48 years,” he said. “This is our Eden!”

In 1994, the park was listed by UNESCO as among World Heritage Sites in danger.