Good wishes echoed among the small crowd of locals gathered in Sanguere-Lim, Koui sub-prefecture, to see off the fighters as they walked from the 3R assembly point to the nearby makeshift disarmament site being set up by the national unit overseeing and implementing the process.
Music was also played (part of the Government’s awareness campaign) as a song played at full volume on loudspeakers calling on Central Africans to lay down their arms “to go to school, cultivate the fields or for any type of livelihood, lay down your arms, for peace.”
Operations in progress
The disarmament and demobilization initiative in Sanguere-Lim marked the latest in a series of ongoing operations launched in July.
They followed a historic peace agreement between the Government and the 3Rs and another armed group Unité pour la Paix in Centrafrique (UPC) – signed in N’Djamena, Chad, in April – marking its return to the peace process in the Central African Republic.
The UN peacekeeping mission in the country, MINUSCA, supports DDR operations, in line with its mandate. The Government launched the national program in December 2018, and MINUSCA has since provided important financial, logistical, technical and security services.
The UN peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic is supporting the disarmament and demobilization of members of armed groups.
Waiting for a new life
Abel Delatid, 25, who joined the 3R in 2017, was among the unarmed fighters. “I learned about the peace agreement in N’Djamena thanks to the awareness of MINUSCA and local authorities. I am looking forward to receiving professional training to start a new life, since I lost a leg during the fighting,” he said after handing over his weapon.
Some mandatory stops awaited fighters, including the surrender of weapons or ammunition, a body search, and registration and receipt of a disarmament certificate.
They also receive a medical check-up, the choice of vocational training, a special allowance and a starter kit to help them on the new path that awaits them.
Ambition to join the army.
For his part, Aroun Isa Oumar expressed his desire to leave behind the hard years spent in the bush.
He hoped to receive training to join the national army (a recurring desire among many combatants), perhaps driven by a lack of information about available programs that support reintegration.
Time and time again, Awareness Campaigns Officer Jean Christophe Namyona informed ex-combatants who stopped by his desk to opt for a preferred vocational training or an income-generating activity of their choice (such as trading, livestock farming or carpentry) in case they were not eligible for military service.
Disarmament and demobilization operations are guided by a 2016 National DDR Strategy, which outlines specific eligibility criteria.
For example, ex-combatants who wish to join the army must be between 18 and 25 years old.
Eligibility also depends on possessing a functional or repairable weapon, or providing 200 rounds of ammunition, eight grenades or 10 rockets.
Among the previously unarmed combatants in the area was Mbekaka Ursula Aicha, a 29-year-old mother of two and the only female ex-combatant to join the DDR process there.
‘Peace is possible’
She had joined the 3R movement three years earlier, driven by a sense of protest against what she described as the marginalization of her community.
“I agreed to disarm after the President’s call to return to the country and work for peace, as well as in accordance with the orders of the 3R leaders. Now that we have laid down our arms, peace is possible,” he said.
The Sub-Prefect of Koui, Larry Nordine Mahalba, highlighted the importance of disarmament and demobilization and praised the support of MINUSCA.
“For five years, the 3Rs occupied this region. MINUSCA has supported us on multiple levels, providing relief to a traumatized population.
Wilfried Relwende Sawadogo, UN Mission Coordination Officer, noted that “crucially, disarmament and demobilization operations contribute to pacifying communities, thus advancing MINUSCA’s key task of protecting civilians.”
For Adama Yaouba, a resident of Sanguere-Lim, life has taken a turn thanks to disarmament in the town. “Nowadays, the armed groups have laid down their weapons and everything has changed. Before we never slept peacefully; we lived in constant fear, always nervous. But now I can sleep peacefully, without worries.”
3R Political Coordinator Yaya Amadou, who had been disarmed during previous operations, encouraged others to follow his example.
“The time of war is over and now is the time to make peace,” he said.
A young member of an armed group in the Central African Republic prepares to hand over his weapon.