The US government has hailed Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta for getting DR Congo and Rwanda to a meeting last week, saying it could ease tensions between the two neighbours. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with President Kenyatta in a phone call on Thursday about Nairobi’s Initiative under the East African Community Conclave on … Read more
An official burial ceremony is taking place on Thursday for the tooth of the Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba in the capital Kinshasa. The relic is all that remains of the African country’s first prime minister, who was murdered in 1961 by separatist rebels in collusion with Belgian mercenaries. His body was dissolved in acid … Read more
Angolan President João Lourenço says the Democratic Republic of Congo has agreed to release two Rwandan soldiers it detained last week, amid rising border tensions. Mr Lourenço – who’s acting as a mediator – made the announcement after separate talks with his Congolese and Rwandan counterparts. His office said Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame had … Read more
A military spokesman in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo says two Rwandan soldiers were captured by villagers, just a day after Kigali claimed they were captured by pro-government rebels. The Rwandan soldiers – Élysée Nkundabagenzi and Ntwari Gad – were captured by residents of Bwisha chiefdom, about 20km (12 miles) away from the border, according … Read more
More than 37,000 people have been forced from their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the last four days of fighting, according to aid agencies. Local media report that the national army has retaken some areas that had been seized by the M23 rebels in recent days. But the main road between Rutshuru … Read more
By Kwanta Douglas – DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi arrived in Zambia’s capital Lusaka on Friday for an official state visit. The visit aims at strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries. President Hichilema and Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema are expected to sign various agreements, including deals on mining. The two Heads of State identified the … Read more
The African Union has endorsed the decision by East African Community leaders to deploy a regional force to restore peace and stability in eastern DR Congo. In a statement on Tuesday, AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat commended the leaders for “their common efforts in finding a sustainable solution to the situation in eastern DRC and the … Read more
African Union Commission has endorsed the decision by East African Community leaders to deploy a regional force to restore peace and stability in eastern DR Congo. In a statement on Tuesday, Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat commended the leaders for “their common efforts in finding a sustainable solution to the situation in eastern DRC and the Great Lakes region … Read more
The Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, formally joins the East African Community when President Felix Tshisekedi signed the deed of Accession to the Treaty establishing the EAC at a ceremony held on Friday at State House Nairobi. According to The East African report, DRC was admitted as the seventh member of the regional bloc … Read more
At least seven persons died late Sunday in a freight train derailment in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), local authorities confirmed on Monday. According to the DRC Ministry of Transport, three of the freight train’s eight coaches derailed at about 7:00p.m. local time, in Lubudi, Lualaba Province, the same area where 75 people … Read more
By Theodore Jones – Twelve people, one soldier and 11 mainly elderly civilians — were killed in a rebel attack in DR Congo’s troubled northeasterly province of Ituri, hospital sources and local authorities said on Thursday. “We have received 11 bodies of civilian victims of a massacre in the Lopa region at Djugu. There was … Read more
By Theodore Jones – At least 75 people have been killed and 125 injured following a railway accident Friday in Lubudi, a territory in the southern DRC province of Lualaba. Twenty-eight of the injured suffered serious trauma and were referred to specialised medical centres for treatment, according to a communiqué from the Ministry of Communication … Read more
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has cancelled a scheduled trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the Ukraine crisis. Mr Guterres was scheduled to visit and assess DRC’s troubled Ituri and North Kivu provinces from Tuesday. UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that “given the deterioration of the situation regarding Ukraine, the Secretary-General cancels his … Read more
At least 26 people were electrocuted on Wednesday in two separate incidents after coming into contact with an exposed power cable south-west of the capital Kinshasa. Government officials said 24 women and two men were killed instantly and another two seriously injured after coming into contact with the cable from a fallen power line. Lyly … Read more
After a moment of relative calm, fifteen people were reported to have been killed on Sunday in two separate attacks in Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Local sources have accused Codeco militiamen of perpetrating the massacre. In the locality of Mabanga, in Djugu territory (Ituri), militiamen “burned houses, looted shops and killed … Read more
By Theodore Jones – Armed groups have killed seven civilians and three members of the security forces in eastern DR Congo, where a clinic was set ablaze, local sources said on Thursday. Two soldiers at Butembo, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Beni in North Kivu province, were killed by “Mai-mai militiamen,” said Colonel Donat … Read more
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) on Monday launched a massive cholera vaccination campaign targeting 2 million people aged one year and above in three eastern provinces to halt an outbreak of the disease, according to health officials. The campaign is being carried out in Haut-Lomami, South Kivu and Tanganyika provinces, the most affected … Read more
Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, said, the latest Ebola outbreak was officially over, as the country marked 42 days with no new cases. The start of latest outbreak was confirmed on October 8 after a three-year-old boy died in Beni, North Kivu province in eastern DR Congo. Authorities then confirmed 8 more cases and … Read more
By Grace Audu – At least Nine people have died of cholera in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Haut-Lomami Province. Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) have warned that more lives could be lost due to lack of basic health services in Mulongo area. In Kabamba region of Mulongo, the current epicenter of the epidemic, … Read more
By Kwanta Douglas – Ugandan military has urged the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) holed up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to surrender under the amnesty law, adding they would not be charged for the offenses committed. “We encourage others who wish to surrender to Uganda especially the Ugandans, to do so because … Read more
Democratic Republic of Congo has entered the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to head of the technical secretariat of the response against Covid-19, Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe. DR Congo is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases. According to the bulletin of the Technical Secretariat of the Multisectoral Committee on the response against the Covid-19 … Read more
By Kwanta Douglas – Uganda has moved more troops and equipment into eastern DR Congo, including armoured vehicles, witnesses at the border claimed, on the third day of an operation against the Allied Democratic Forces ADF rebel group. “At around 4 p.m., we saw another Ugandan army column cross,” said Tony Kitambala, a freelance journalist … Read more
By Kwanta Douglas – Uganda and its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), commenced a coordinated aerial assault against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) on Tuesday, a terror group blamed for atrocities in both Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The aircraft attack, according to both countries’ spokespeople, will target the group’s … Read more
By Jacob Kubeka – New tragedy in the volatile east of the DR Congo has seen dozens slaughtered in recent days, many with their throats slit or burned alive, despite a state of siege aimed at reining in roaming militia groups. On Monday, the death toll following a brutal attack blamed on the ADF rebel … Read more
By Kwanta Douglas – In a bid to ensure the smooth security situation in East Africa, Uganda’s President Museveni, has said discussions with Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi are progressing well, adding that terrorists will not come out without pressure. According to him the main problem in this area is insecurity for some … Read more
By Jacob Kubeka – Incensed women in the Democratic Republic of Congo crowdfunded the $450 required after the trial of suspected gang rapists was postponed due to a lack of finances to send them to court, according to a spokesman. In September 2020, a riot broke out in a jail in the southern city of … Read more
By Jacob Kubeka – President of the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC), Felix Tshisekedi, said DRC will open a diplomatic and trade representation in Jerusalem. Tshisekedi, the current African Union (AU) chairperson, met with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem on Thursday, according to an announcement from Bennett’s office. According to the statement, the DRC … Read more
According to local authorities on Monday, a boat struck a rock and sank on Lake Tanganyika off the coast of DR Congo during the weekend, killing eleven persons, including seven children. According to beach official Kashindi Bovari, rescue crews discovered the bodies of four mothers, four girls, and three boys. According to him, another 62 … Read more
The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on Wednesday said more than half a million people in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo have lost their supply of drinking water as a result of the recent volcanic eruption. MSF said because cholera was endemic and posed a great threat there was an urgent … Read more
The country’s Director of The International Rescue Committee (IRC), Borry Jatta, has expressed concerned about the continued risks in DRC’s Goma as earthquakes persist, destroying buildings, homes and other infrastructure and gas emissions, acidic rain and volcanic dust pose continued health risks. Mr. Jatta explained that: “there have been more than 200 tremors in the … Read more