**Fatshimetrie, September 10, 2024: The Drama of the Mobale Bridge in Kamituga**
Tension is at its peak in Kamituga, a small town in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, following the closure of the Mobale Bridge, a road infrastructure that has become synonymous with mortal danger. Residents, local authorities and road users are holding their breath as a chasm literally opens up between them and the neighboring town of Kitutu.
According to the local administration, the Mobale Bridge, located 179 km from Bukavu on National Road number 2, is currently in an advanced state of disrepair, making any passage for vehicles impossible. The mayor of Kamituga, Alexandre Bundya M’pila, went to the scene to see the worrying situation firsthand. He took a radical decision: to formally ban all motorized traffic on this road, citing the imminent risk of vehicles falling into the river below.
The consequences of this closure are immediate and harmful to the local population. Pedestrians who used to cross the Mobale bridge are now forced to use an improvised ford to reach the other bank safely. A precarious situation that affects the mobility of residents and the flow of goods, jeopardizing the already weakened local economy.
Voices are being raised to demand urgent repairs to the Mobale bridge, which is vital to ensuring connectivity between Kamituga and Kitutu. Road users are calling for rapid intervention by the competent authorities to rehabilitate this essential traffic infrastructure. The mayor of Kamituga has sent a detailed report to his superiors, pleading for immediate intervention to restore traffic as quickly as possible.
This situation highlights the challenges facing many regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where road infrastructure maintenance is often neglected to the detriment of citizen safety. The Mobale Bridge thus becomes the symbol of a failing system, endangering the lives and livelihoods of local populations.
While waiting for possible rehabilitation, the inhabitants of Kamituga live in uncertainty, facing isolation and precariousness. The Mobale Bridge, once a link, has now become a burden, cruelly reminding us of the flaws of a system that struggles to ensure the well-being of its citizens. An emergency that calls for collective awareness and concrete actions to guarantee the safety and mobility of all.