### Masisi-Walikale Masisi-Walikale Taximen: Between abuses and resilience in a latent conflict
On the chaotic roads of the Masisi-Walikale axis, thousands of Congolese struggle every day with a reality that they have not chosen. Among them, taximen-word, these everyday heroes, who serve as a vital link in an area marked by insecurity and armed tensions. However, this exercise of their profession is compromised by arbitrary arrests, which underline a worrying and often neglected dimension of armed conflicts: human rights and civil security.
According to a correspondence dated March 3 and recently consulted by Fatshimetrics, the Walikale’s word taximen denounce a climate of terror imposed on them by the security forces, in particular the FARDC and the Patriotes Wazalendo. Indeed, four of their own, Bahati Hussen Omar, Mulungano Mwengo patient, Kalungu Ndeko Gilbert and Imani Bahati Promise, are currently behind bars for dubious accusations, seeming more of the systematic distrust than concrete evidence. Northernly accused of collusion with rebel groups, these men had only few options to prove their innocence.
The situation of the-word taximen should not be envisaged from a romantic angle of the fight for survival. It illustrates a broader socio-economic phenomenon which not only encompasses the life of the actors involved, but also that of the families they support. A statistic to consider: According to recent studies on the job market in the DRC, almost 70% of the active population depends on the informal economy, in which these bikers occupy a preponderant place.
### An informal economy in distress
While a report by the World Bank stresses that around 50% of Congolese live below the poverty line, taximen -ixtures have a form of resistance to this dynamic. By transporting goods and people through marshy land, often worried to armed groups, they make an essential contribution to the local economy. But the economic reality they are experiencing is marked by illegal fines and other forms of extortion, which, according to their spokesperson Amani Bitaha, can reach up to 100 dollars, an exorbitant amount in a country where the minimum wage amount is $ 65 per month.
### The failures of justice
The judicial system in the DRC presages a formidable gravity. The arrests of these word taximen highlight not only the impunity enjoyed by certain members of the security forces, but also the lack of legal appeal for the heavily accused people. Alarming figures are circulating: According to Amnesty International, arbitrary detentions and human rights violations jumped 30% in certain regions of the DRC in 2022, exacerbating the feeling of insecurity among the civilian population.
These word taximen are not only passive victims; They organize themselves to defend their rights. Their request to remove illegal barriers and respect their human rights is a call for action for the authorities. This initiative signals a change in the dynamics of power, where ordinary citizens begin to claim their rights in the face of an oppressive system.
### to a necessary reform
It is advisable to wonder what measures could be implemented to remedy this situation. The reform of the security forces and awareness of human rights could play a crucial role in establishing a climate of trust. In parallel, digital solutions, such as the creation of platforms to report abuses, could offer additional aid to the word taximen in their fight for justice.
In short, behind the history of these word taximen hides a larger truth: that of a people who refuses to fold under the weight of oppression. Their resilience in the face of tyranny can possibly serve as a foundation for a wider movement pushed by the quest for justice and prosperity. Their voices, although often stifled by the noise of weapons, deserve to be heard, because they constitute an appeal to human peace and dignity in the middle of a storm of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.