IRIN Web Special on Ituri in Eastern DRC

The natural wealth of the DRC has become a curse, providing an unending motive for rebel factions and foreign forces on both sides of the DRC war to continue fighting. Not only do the revenues from gold, diamonds, coltan, timber, coffee and other commodities pay for the war but they also provide those who control production and export with very considerable profits.

In the case of Ituri, reports into resource exploitation by two UN panels have come out with damning evidence of freewheeling merchant-warrior networks, whose functions are not only to loot what is already there but to manage the supply of consumer commodities. The isolation of the region contributes to a distorted economy in which the price of livestock has plummeted, for example, while imported goods are highly inflated.

The second UN panel's report of October 2002 alleged that, unlike Rwanda's looting of the DRC, which raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the Rwandan army's coffers, the Ugandan exploitation of Ituri has benefited a handful of UDPF commanders personally. The Ugandan government appointed a judicial commission of inquiry, known as the Porter Commission, in May 2001 to investigate the allegations; it is yet to present its findings (see Web Links).

The UN panel's report suggests that "powerful Hema businessmen and politicians" are trying to "secure greater control over the spoils", and that the rise of Lubanga's UPC is a symptom of competition between local commercial interests and the UPDF commanders.

The resources of the DRC have been of continued interest to foreign business interests from beyond the region. One source of revenue for rebel groups has been the sale of concessions to foreign businesses. These, too, have fuelled the conflict as they provide the rebels with independent revenue and a reason to grab more territory to offer further opportunities to unscrupulous overseas investors.

The prospect of petrodollars in Ituri may have provided a new impetus to the bloody battle for control of Ituri in 2002, analysts say. Geological surveys have indicated potential oil reserves in the Semliki basin, south of Lake Albert. A Canadian firm, Heritage Oil Corporation, has been exploring western Uganda since 1997 and is in the process of drilling a test well in the area called "Turaco-1". In June 2002, Heritage signed an agreement with President Joseph Kabila to gain initial rights to a staggering 3.1 million hectares of eastern DRC, including eastern Ituri. The test well on the Ugandan side of the border has a 20 percent chance of producing oil, officials of Heritage indicate, and is expected to produce results, one way or the other, before early 2003. In another illustration of the links between the security and commercial dimensions of the conflict, a founder and director of Heritage Oil, Anthony (Tony) Buckingham, was the "inspiration behind Sandline [International]", the British private security firm.

Measures to curb the commercial fuel of the conflict have been suggested by the UN panel's report, which recommends reducing development aid flows to offending countries; tighter controls on the trade in conflict goods; travel bans on individuals; freezing of personal assets; and blacklisting of selected companies and individuals from dealings with international financial institutions.

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