Enough!

After about 3 weeks of bombing, on june 28 the rebels of the “march 23” movement (m23) occupied the strategic town of kanyabayonga. In congo you often hear news of this kind, but less so what comes of it. According to the mayor of the city, 90% of the population has left the city by any means to reach a safe place. According to father giuseppe piumatti, a fidei donum priest for over 50 years in that tormented territory, the people fleeing throughout kivu are thousands, mostly without any assistance, other than the welcome they receive from the local population. According to united nations data, congo has exceeded 7 million displaced people.

The people of kanyabayonga reached Kirumba and other towns further north by any means, but as the mayor explained: «the displaced people were forced to flee a second time. And even the families who hosted them have just fled».

Small and large armed movements kill apparently for no reason: sometimes there is the issue of inter-ethnic clashes (hema/lendu) arising from ancient colonial grudges, other times the control of mineral resources, other times foreign interests, up to religious reasons. But according to testimonies collected on the ground, former president kabila is behind these movements. «kabila and kagame are behind all these attacks, but behind kagame there are many others: african, western countries» this is the prevailing opinion among both government officials and people on the street. And as reported by the newspaper le monde: «joseph kabila's silence maintains suspicions about his role in the east of the country» including the accusation of supporting the m23 rebels, who control part of the province of north kivu. In a recent interview with france 24, rwandan president paul kagame declared that rwanda is «ready» to go to war with the democratic republic of congo, if necessary. “we are ready to fight.” In response to recent accusations by his congolese counterpart felix tshisekedi that rwanda is organizing “a genocide” in eastern drc, kagame accused tshisekedi of orchestrating the return of a “genocidal ideology” in eastern drc, aimed at the congolese tutsi. It may not be clear who is behind all these armed groups, but it is very clear who is underneath: the congolese people: thousands of people are fleeing loaded only with mattresses and saucepans. Inatosha!

Fabrizio Floris
NP august/september 2024