An information posted by the Facebook page Bé-Afrika News on April 19, 2024, claims that the Bangladeshi contingent of MINUSCA is harboring a rebel leader of the UPC in Bocaranga. However, after verification by Centrafrique Check with local authorities and MINUSCA, this information is false.
Since January, MINUSCA has been targeted by a disinformation campaign, but it will continue to carry out its multidimensional mandate, according to the spokesperson.
Vladimir Monteiro, MINUSCA’s spokesperson, stated in a WhatsApp interview with Centrafrique Check on May 27, 2024: “This is really false information. MINUSCA is not complicit with armed groups. Its mission is to protect civilian populations by supporting the government’s efforts. Therefore, it cannot ally itself with armed elements. Let those who are spreading these lies provide their evidence.”
He added: “These contingents are in the CAR to protect the population. There has been a disinformation campaign targeting MINUSCA since January, but MINUSCA will continue to execute its multidimensional mandate, which has a positive impact on the population. It is this impact and these achievements that frighten detractors, who invent these lies.”
As part of the fact-checking process, we also contacted the President of the Special Delegation of Bocaranga, Ernest Césaire Kodomo, who completely rejected this information: “This is pure falsehood. There has been no complicity between the Bangladeshi contingent of MINUSCA and the UPC armed group, and there have been no atrocities committed by MINUSCA in complicity with the UPC against the population of my locality.”
He further added: “On the contrary, MINUSCA has done a lot for the town of Bocaranga by supporting us during peaceful transhumance periods and for the definitive return of peace to Bocaranga. I completely reject these lies that aim to tarnish the image of my commune.”
Fulbert Boungou, a resident of Bocaranga, contacted by Centrafrique Check on April 25, 2024, stated: “I have never witnessed such an event in Bocaranga; on the contrary, it is MINUSCA that helps us here to carry out social cohesion activities for the definitive return of peace to Bocaranga. I can confirm that this information is purely false.”
Bocaranga, a town located in the Ouham-Pendé prefecture, has often been the scene of armed conflicts related to transhumance issues between 3R elements and military operations conducted by defense and security forces. It is one of the regions most affected by explosive devices, whose use by parties to the conflict began in 2021 and escalated in 2022 and 2023, with consequences for the protection of civilians, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Conclusion:
The post claiming that MINUSCA has harbored armed groups to maintain insecurity and create tensions in Bocaranga is false, as verified by Centrafrique Check.
This article was written by fact-checking journalist Doriane Pounoukoudou and edited by Esdras Michael Ndamoyen.
