Opinions of Tuesday, 2 July 2024
Columnist: Odile Gbayah
During the UN Security Council meeting on the Central African Republic(CAR) on Thursday 27 June 2024 in Bangui, Valentine Rugwabiza, UN Special Representative to the CAR, and head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), condemned the disinformation campaigns allegedly being waged in the country.
However, if we recall the extensive list of crimes of which the Blue Helmets are accused of committing, the words of the representative of the UN mission seem irrelevant.
The UN peacekeeping mission, which has been operating since 2014, is supposed to protect civilians in the Central African Republic, support the transition process, facilitate humanitarian assistance, protect human rights, uphold justice and the rule of law, as well as the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process.
However, not all contingents are fulfilling their obligations to CAR and the international community.
In particular, the recent scandals involving the Moroccan and Nepalese MINUSCA contingents are causing even greater distrust among the local population.
There is ample evidence of the provision of ammunition and weapons to UPC(Union for Peace in Central African Republic) fighters by the Moroccan MINUSCA contingent in the Obo, Mboki and Zemio areas.
In late May 2024, as FACA(French: Forces Amees Centra Africaines) and Russian allies entered Mboki, representatives of the Moroccan MINUSCA contingent claimed that the town was completely free of armed group fighters. However, this turned out to be false. In Mboki itself, FACA government forces were ambushed by UPC fighters.
Also more recently, on June 20, 2024, a Nepalese contingent of MINUSCA tried to infiltrate the Ngakobo district into the military operation zone conducted by FACA. Later, a detained UPC militant revealed that the UPC was waiting for ammunition resupply from this MINUSCA convoy.
Due to these events, the Central Africans have repeatedly openly expressed their displeasure urging the international community to investigate these offences and meet sanctions where necessary, but the UN Mission tries to gloss over or accuse the allied forces of misinformation.
It seems that the UN mission is to prevent Central Africans from living in peace. So one may ask: what is going on in CAR, a disinformation campaign or real discontent of Central Africans with the work of MINUSCA?