As M23 rebel group advances in Congo, a new leader signals a shift in its identity

KAMPALA, Uganda — After Rwanda-backed M23 rebels took control of the biggest city in eastern Congo this week, the man who emerged from the shadows to assert his leadership was not the group’s long-time military leader. An unholy matrimony Last year, Makenga’s M23 joined Nangaa’s Congo River Alliance and with Nangaa at the helm of the revamped outfit, the M23 looked even more menacing to Congolese authorities, analysts say. M23 forcing local alliances in Congo Unlike in 2012, when the M23 took Goma in a campaign led by Kinyarwanda-speaking fighters pushing mainly for their full integration into the Congolese army, “this time it has a national agenda,” the Crisis Group think tank said of M23 in a recent assessment. With Nangaa’s Congo River Alliance as the “political umbrella” for the M23, the think tank said the rebels have accumulated resources and allies that made them “attractive partners not only to armed groups in eastern but to others aiming to undermine Tshisekedi.” “This is in line with probable strategy of creating a deniable but powerful Congolese front to exact the maximum leverage over Kinshasa and confirm its dominance of North Kivu, at a minimum,” the think tank said. A new face politically motivated Unlike in 2012, Nangaa’s selling point as the face of M23 is that he is from the Haut-Uele province and not Tutsi,” said Moleka with the Dypol Congolese think tank.