Second Place
marcus bleasdale
Freelance
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"The Price of Precious"
The health center in Bavi is badly supplied as it is deep in enemy territory and very few, if any NGOs can get clearance to come here. As a result all the civil society systems are desperately decaying as the rebels extract gold from the nearby mines.
From the UN panel of experts report 2012
FRPI controls the gold mining site of Bavi from where, according to an ex-FRPI combatant and inhabitants of Bavi, the rebels generate profits through illegal taxation and the direct sale of gold. According to traders in Bunia, gold from Bavi is of superior quality in the region, which makes it easy to recognize. The main buyers are traders from Bunia and Butembo. FRPI also sells gold directly to Ugandan armed forces officers posted along the Congolese border. A regular client, cited by Congolese armed forces, militia members and a Lendu community leader, is a former Ugandan armed forces officer, Alex Mugisha. In exchange for gold, he has delivered arms and munitions to FRPI at the Semliki border crossing.
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