Land dispossession in Mbobero, South Kivu, DRC

The people of Mbobero, in South Kivu, were victims of land grabbing by a political elite, understood as the use of opaque means, coercion, or the manipulation of normative, historical, or institutional ambiguities to acquire a tract of land in a given area for any purpose. This situation has triggered tensions and protest movements among the victims. This study aims to identify the aforementioned issues, assess the impact of this dispossession, and examine the resilience of the victims. Observation, interviews, focus group discussions, and documentary review constitute the methodology of this study. The findings show that the opacity of the rural land code, the complicity of certain customary chiefs, the acquisition of land by any means necessary, and the weakness of the justice system are the main issues underlying this dispossession. The consequences include land loss as well as internal conflicts between residents themselves and between residents and customary chiefs. Some victims accepted bribes, others sought refuge with relatives while awaiting future compensation, and still others chose resignation, fearing the power of the new owner, the former head of state.