Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, Metropolitan Bishop of Kinshasa and President of the Provincial Episcopal Assembly of Kinshasa (Assepkin), recently closed the work of Assepkin. During its ordinary statutory session, the Bishops of the dioceses of Kinshasa, Kwango, Kwilu, and Kongo-Central analyzed the security situation prevailing in the province of Kwango. They thus examined more closely the communal conflicts between the Teke and the Yaka in the territory of Kwamouth, in Maï-Ndombe.
At the end of this analysis, the bishops expressed their concerns about the rise in power of the “Mobondo” militia, which aggravates the security situation. They therefore called, in their message entitled “Remove your bloodthirsty hands from our provinces! », the withdrawal of any hand involved in these conflicts. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo relayed their message in a solemn Mass which will take place on Sunday on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Lord.
Cardinal Ambongo, during a pastoral visit to Kasongo-Lunda and Popokabaka, also said that contrary to public opinion, the Yaka and the Teke are not in conflict, but that the current insecurity in this region is political manipulation.
It is therefore urgent for the Congolese authorities to act to restore security in these regions, in order to allow the population to live in peace. This situation is also to be taken into account in a national context where violent repression during opposition demonstrations, human rights violations and police repression are some of the recurrent problems. In general, the DRC must make efforts to improve the situation of its citizens, especially in terms of Internet connectivity, as has recently been proposed with the launch of the largest Internet exchange point in Central Africa.