Nduma Defense of Congo


The Nduma Defense of Congo is a militia that operates in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of the Kivu conflict. Mai-Mai groups are militia unique to the eastern DRC, formed ostensibly to defend villages from attacks from Rwandan forces and Rwandan backed rebel groups. However, Mai-Mai groups have been accused of sexual violence, looting, and fighting all sides including fellow militias, the DRC army, and even the United Nations.
The NDC was formed in 2009 by former minerals trader Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka, an ethnic Nyanga. Sheka claims the group was formed to liberate the mines of Walikale Territory in North Kivu.
According to the UN, Sheka commanded a mass rape of at least 387 women, men, and children over a three day span in Walikale in 2010. This was said to be a punishment for the villagers collaborating with Congo government forces. In 2011, Sheka was added to a United Nations Security Council sanctions list and a warrant was issued for his arrest in the DRC. In 2017, Sheka surrendered to the DRC in North Kivu. As of April 2019, his trial is still on-going.
The UN Security Council has documented numerous cases of the NDC recruiting child soldiers. According to a 2014 report, at least 33 children separated from the group. They said their roles included carrying ammunition and acting as talisman, as well as "combatants, cooks, marijuana farmers and tax collectors." The children were held to the group through a mixture of threats to their family or the payment of $10–12 per month.
A 2014 splinter saw the new group NCD-Renouveau created by former NDC deputy Guidon.