The provincial city of Kinshasa is once again faced with a strike by taxi and taxi-bus drivers. Their demands add to a long list of difficulties for the inhabitants of the city, who suffer from the deplorable state of public transport. As the young Democratic Republic of the Congo prepares for important elections, these issues are bound to arise all the more acutely.
Placide Luboya Mwanza, lawyer and defender of Kinshasa citizens, calls for a comprehensive reform of the transport sector to ensure the safety of inhabitants. The police, suspected of extortion of funds from taxi drivers, must also be regulated for a pacification of the region.
The elected representatives of Kinshasa, according to Luboya, have a crucial role in this reform, and in particular in the regulation of the police and in the improvement of the public transport network. Local initiatives and public-private partnership can be a long-term solution for a sustainable improvement of transport, for the well-being of the people of Kinshasa.
Despite the difficult situation, it is possible that the situation will improve in the coming months thanks to new initiatives such as the Chrisnovic project, a palm oil company that offers new economic hope for the DRC. However, only a global and concrete initiative from the government will make it possible to envisage a visible improvement in the daily life of the inhabitants of Kinshasa.