The complexiTy of resource governance in a conTexT of sTaTe ... - Ipis

52 International Alert
route primarily serves mines in areas under Mayi-Mayi control; which constitute the majority
of mines researched in this study. It takes an average of 10 days on foot to reach Manguredjipa,
North Kivu, a trade town that Mambasa stakeholders cited as a transit point for gold from the
southern and eastern part of Mambasa territory. 204 From there, minerals are transported by truck
or motorbike a further 99 km to Butembo.
A second trade route serves the gold mines in areas currently under FARDC control. Of the 34
sites covered during the research, six used the rehabilitated national Kisangani-Mambasa road,
accessing it from Bafwabalinga or Bafwanduo, to transport minerals to Bunia or Butembo. It
takes between an hour and three days to walk from these sites – located south and northeast of
Bafwasende town – to the national road.
A third route concerns Lubutu, Maniema province, near the western edge of the park. This route
appears to serve the mines in the west and central park areas, and is historically linked to mineral
extraction by Simba Mayi-Mayi as far back as the movement’s creation in 1964. 205 Minerals then
transit north to Kisangani, before reaching Butembo and sometimes as far as Goma.
Of the 34 sites covered by this research, only one transported its product directly to Kisangani.
This is a cassiterite mine in an area under Mayi-Mayi control, belonging to SOMINDO, which
has its warehouse in Kisangani.
Trade routes: Mambasa territory
Gold is the most popular mineral mined in this part of the province, and is by and large extracted
artisanally. Some 10–15 semi-mechanised drag operations exist on the Ituri River, run by
companies with CaMi permits. As stated above, these operators do not provide information on
their activities and so no trade statistics are available for the operations. Négociants in Mambasa
claim these operators prefer to sell to comptoirs in Bunia or Butembo, given their higher production
quantities. 206
The remaining gold operations exist in a plethora of small chantiers in the west of the territory,
along the axis north of Nia-Nia to Wamba and Isiro, and in the forest south and southeast of the
Okapi Wildlife Reserve.
At most of the 35 sites for which information could be collected, only the AFM can buy gold from
miners. In two cases the chef de chefferie was mentioned as the sole buyer; in three cases, both
AFM and Nande traders were buyers; and in three more, Nande traders were the only buyers.
Butembo was mentioned as the destination of production for most sites, but in several cases both
Butembo and Bunia, or Butembo and Beni, were cited. In six sites in the west, Bunia, Butembo
and Isiro are favoured. Isiro is reportedly a major hub for gold from the surrounding territories, 207
although it has no official comptoirs. From Isiro, gold is either flown 208 to Butembo (or straight to
Uganda), or transported by motorbike to Ariwara, a major business centre in Aru territory, close
to the Ugandan border.
Minerals mined south of Okapi Reserve pass through Kenia village before being sold to négociants
in Manguredjipa, who bring them to Butembo.
Stakeholders claim Butembo comptoirs are financing gold production in Nia-Nia, buying on the
spot through middlemen and transporting the gold through Mambasa to Butembo. In this case,
204 See section on Mambasa territory below.
205 L. Wande (2009), op. cit. pp. 12-13.
206 Field interviews, June 2010.
207 PAC (2009) op. cit., p. 13.
208 Some sources stated that the FARDC control transport at Isiro airport.