### Kinshasa: When the noise of worship crosses the limits of calm
April 9, 2025. In the Mpassa 3/Bibwa district, in N’Ssele, a meeting was held under a blazing sun, illuminating one of the most recurring problems – and yet often all – life in the heart of Kinshasa: noise. Richard Lingwe, the neighborhood leader, took the floor to remind the street chiefs that it was high time to put the end to the incessant cacophony of churches and terraces of bars, which seem to have the objective of reinventing the concept of “sound nuisances”.
“Awareness, yes, but how many voices will really rise against the faithful and the tenants who unleash decibels? “, One might wonder. In a city where spirituality is intimately intertwined with everyday life – where more than 34 churches run like rivers in parallel with more than 30 bars on each street corner – the reality of this recommendation raises several questions. Who is really ready to give up his practices and rituals in the name of “public tranquility”?
For Lingwe, the stake seems clear: guaranteeing a pacified living space, without coming up against beliefs. “Sound nuisance is one of the insecurity factors in our neighborhoods,” he said. An assertion that takes on hot news when looking at the wider table of urban violence in Kinshasa. But can the peace of the ears really lead to the peace of souls? In a country where faith is often an outlet for crises, where the border between freedom of religious expression and abusive excess for non-believers or those who are just looking for a moment of calm is located?
The repercussions of this night agitation are not only auditory. They also shape social dynamics. Lingwe’s recommendation to denounce the overflows brings up stories of torn neighborhoods, quarrels for a moment of respite. In this area paved with promises of serenity, who will really dare to designate his neighbor, a pastor, a bar holder? It would be a bit like asking a fish to denounce the water in which it swims.
And then there is this promised circular note, an uncertain future. In a country where the bureaucratic often rubs shoulders with the ineffective, the hope of a dissuasive fine could quickly fall into the forgotten. There is a palpable tension: on the one hand, the will of the authorities to establish rules, on the other, the reality of men and women who live day by day. Both spent where a circular note has changed things, we are still looking. The fine then becomes more a threat instrument than a change tool.
The authorities invite citizens to get involved in this nuisance hunt, but one cannot help imagining the danger of such an approach. In a society where promiscuity between beliefs and distrust is omnipresent, denunciation becomes a double -edged system.
Under these tunes of a sound crisis, it is a deeper need that is expressed: the need for a constructive dialogue between the various voices of the city. Perhaps there is a way to reconcile the right to prayer, to the party, and the legitimate desire for a night rest? Perhaps, beyond reprimands and fines, it is time to establish a real discussion on living together in Kinshasa? After all, it is not only a question of saying who has the right to make noise, but how everyone can coexist in this great concert that is urban life.
While the noise of the city mixes with the melodious songs of the volunteers of hope, while the terraces continue to attract souls in search of lightness and the churches vibrate under the breath of the Holy Spirit, the question of collective well-being remains pending. It is time to contemplate this crossroads: how to manage a cacophony which breaks away far from the ears, but which, by its presence, disturbs consciences?