Ernest Wamba Dia Wamba - The Second Congo War and The Peace After

The Second Congo War and The Peace After

At the beginning of the Second Congo War against the government of Joseph Kabila, he was unanimously elected head of the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy, which was backed by Uganda and Rwanda and based in the town of Goma. However, the RCD gradually tore in two from November 1998 until 16 May 1999, as it became clear that Rwanda and its supporters goals were limited to replacement of Kabila. Several attempts were made on Wamba's life during this period, coinciding with attempts to destroy his political power in the RCD.

On 16 May 1999, Émile Ilunga was named the new head of the RCD after maneuvering by Rwanda, and Wamba fled to the Ugandan-controlled town of Kisangani. The faction of the RCD he maintained control of was variously known as the Movement for Liberation (RCD-ML), RCD-Kisangani, or RCD-Wamba. The main faction is sometimes referred to as RCD-Goma. The two factions shortly engaged in fierce battles in Kisangani, following which Wamba retreated to Bunia in the Ituri region of the northeastern DRC.

Wamba was faced with an internal revolt by Mbusa Nyamwisi, leading to another split that left Wamba. His organization remained known as the RCD-Kisangani (RCD-K), but the Nyamwisi-led group was known as the RCD-ML. In 2001, Wamba denounced a Ugandan proposal to unite the RCD-K, RCD-ML and Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) as an unwelcome foreign imposition. The further disintegration of the RCD-K to the point it was without any significant military force may have been the result of Ugandan withdrawal of its support. This action, which took place as the Ituri conflict continued escalating, was seen by some members of the Lendu ethnic group as a support against what they saw as the pro-Hema bias of Uganda.

Following the Inter-Congolese Dialogue that ended the war, Wamba became a prominent member of the new government. He has spoken extensively on what is needed for the DRC to make a successful transition to a functioning democracy.

He continues to be politically involved and to write and is a noted political theorist widely respected for, in particular, his innovative use of the work of the African born Parisian philosopher Alain Badiou who he has introduced in to contemporary African political thought. African scholars like Jacques Depelchin, Michael Neocosmos and Raj Patel have taken up Wamba's use of Badiou's work.

A May 2008 article authored by Jacques Depelchin warned that there were new threats to assassinate Wamba.