Eluki Monga Aundu

General Eluki Monga Aundu is the current chief of staff of the army. Hailing from the Équateur region, he is, like his cousin General Mahele, rare among generals in that he is neither a Ngbandi nor a relative of Mobutu. He is a professional soldier, like Mahele; both men fought with distinction during Shaba II, and both advanced solely on the basis of merit, rather than political patronage. His skills as a tactician made him popular with soldiers; however, his reputation soured when, in the 1990s, he countered Mahele, saying that the military should be accountable to Mobutu, not to the people. After Mahele was relegated to the post of attache a la présidence, Eluki was recalled as ambassador to Israel and appointed chief of staff to replace Mahele. Interestingly, it was after Eluki's appointment that opposition groups - especially the UDPS - began to complain of increased harassment by the military. Eluki was tasked with suppressing the second round of looting - in 1993 - and, in addition to mowing down looters, he used his troops to attack the residences of opposition members. He was swept to the sidelines during the Great Central African War in favor of Mahele, but after the war, he was brought back into the fray. He remains chief of staff today, and has been accused by human rights organizations of complicity in ongoing human rights abuses by the military.