22 07 13 Congo Siasa – Is the Congolese army getting better?

If the Congolese army is really performing
better, then why?

"This time, the logistics are much better," a UN
official who works closely with the army told me. "The salaries are being paid,
the supplies are getting to the front line. They still overreact and waste too
much ammo, but there are a much better fighting force." When I asked a senior
Congolese intelligence officer, he confirmed this, saying that General Francois
Olenga had been making an effort to make sure supply chains actually
function.

Both sources agreed that the departure of dozens of senior
officers to Kinshasa––where around 120 officers have been sitting around in
hotels in January, ostensibly for training seminars, but in reality awaiting
redeployment––helped, as well. "These officers had been embezzling funds and
running parallel chains of command. Their departure has simplified the military
hierarchy." The Congolese intelligence officer argued: "Some of these people had
been in collaboration with our enemies. Getting them out of here
helped."

In addition, the army is now giving more prominence to the
commando battalions, the 321 and 322 trained by the Belgians (a third is
currently being trained in Kindu), the 391 trained by the Americans, and one by
the Chinese (on the northern front line in Tongo). During the operations last
year, these battalions had been mismanaged by the military hierarchy, which
dismantled them, sent them to areas where there was little to do, and "sabotaged
them by sending them into battle without supplies or knowledge of the terrain,"
according to one Belgian trainer.

The retirement of 322 colonels and
generals in a July 7 decree
also simplified things, although none if any of these commanders were on the
front lines.

Of course, the problems of the Congolese army are far from
over. As argued here before, the real challenge of army reform lies in tackling
the culture of patronage, racketeering and impunity that undermines military
discipline and any sense of hierarchy in the armed forces.