** Floods in Kinshasa: Question the answers in the face of the river of the Ndjili river **
On Saturday April 12, 2025, the inhabitants of Kinshasa were still faced with a cruel reality: the banks of the Ndjili river overwhelmed, causing floods in several districts of the Congolese capital. This recurring phenomenon raises essential questions about water management and town planning in a expanding city.
Each year, the overflow of NDJILI is announced with a mixture of concern and resignation. Provincial and municipal authorities, often perceived as helpless, are alerts while promising solutions. However, this routine seems falsely comforting and leads to a real questioning of the effectiveness of the procedures taken. Indeed, these floods are not the result of chance, but the result of predictable hydrological cycles which, despite their cyclic nature, continue to question the response capacity of managers.
The affected districts, such as Limete, Matete, Ndjili and Masina, undergo immediate consequences: material losses, difficult travel, and above all, a feeling of abandonment. The words of those responsible, often full of seriousness and determination, encounter growing disappointment among citizens, who see little concrete evolution. The question then arises: why do sustainable solutions are so long in emerging?
An often neglected aspect is that of urbanization and the regulation of constructions in Kinshasa. In the previous decades, rapid population growth was accompanied by anarchic urban development. Constructions that have obstructed natural flow routes have been made, often under the indifferent eye of the authorities. Corruption and lack of regulation exacerbates this phenomenon, leading to a situation where town planning is both disorganized and unsuitable for environmental requirements.
The absence of preventive measures such as pipes of pipes or regular cleaning of watercourses clearly raises the question of the preparation of the authorities in the face of this problem. Better management of water resources and infrastructure should be at the heart of municipal and provincial priorities, highlighting the need for a sustainable urban plan. While the budget allocated to prevention measures often seems poorly used, an in -depth reflection on transparency and the effectiveness of public investments is essential.
However, in the midst of this crisis, votes rise with community initiatives. The Kinois, faced with these floods, show ingenuity by building makeshift dikes and adapting their way of living in the face of the consequences of the overflows. This citizen dynamism is an essential factor of resilience, but it cannot replace a coordinated and structured action on the part of the authorities. In this sense, it is legitimate to wonder how far these individual efforts will go without reinforced institutional support.
The role of the media, too, cannot be underestimated. These assume responsibility for relaying the issues raised by these floods, but their scope can be increased by more targeted coverage of positive initiatives and concrete solutions adopted elsewhere. The examples of good practices, whether from other countries faced with similar challenges or effective local projects, could inspire solutions adaptable to the Congolese context.
It is imperative to go beyond declarations of intention and recurring promises to engage in a long -term strategy which takes into account the specificities of the urban ecosystem of Kinshasa. A constructive dialogue between populations, elected officials, and urban planning and environmental experts is essential to design effective ways of action. How to consider an early alert system that can really inform and protect citizens? What measures are necessary to guarantee a regulation of the construction respecting the fragility of the territory?
Beyond the floods, these questions should challenge decision-makers about the need for more effective and more responsible governance, which is not content to accompany crises, but strives to prevent their appearance. The Ndjili river, a symbol of Kinshasa environmental challenges, could become a catalyst for change, provided that it calls for collective awareness in the face of political abandonment and insufficient responses.
In short, Kinshasa, through the example of the Ndjili river, is in front of a turning point. It is up to political actors to transform this situation into an opportunity to set up lasting solutions and thus get out of this cycle of floods, not as fatality, but as an opportunity to innovate for the well-being of its citizens. Such an approach can only strengthen the confidence in the ability of the authorities to meet the urgent needs of the population.