AFRICA/DR CONGO – Radio Maria/Goma coordinator murdered

AFRICA/DR CONGO – Radio Maria/Goma coordinator assassinated

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – The coordinator of Radio Maria/Goma, Edmond Bahati Monja, was murdered. The murder occurred on the evening of September 27th. The Catholic radio journalist was shot dead by gunmen near his home in the Ndosho district on the outskirts of Goma. The city is the capital of North Kivu, the eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is being rocked by the advance of the armed M23 movement.
Goma is almost completely surrounded by militiamen from the M23 movement. To bolster the city's defenses, the regular Congolese army has formed alliances with other armed groups and armed some militias that call themselves Wazalendo (“patriots” in Swahili). However, the presence of irregular armed groups has led to an overall increase in violent crime in Goma, with robberies and murders becoming commonplace.
The murder of Edmond Bahati, a journalist who, among other things, investigated the situation on site, falls into a different category: journalists are murdered because they are doing their job. At least a dozen journalists were murdered in and around Goma within two years. Bahati had particularly investigated the violence of armed groups in the region.
According to at least one eyewitness, Bahati was killed by three armed men (perhaps in military uniform, perhaps in civilian clothes; other witnesses disagree on this point) who had robbed her shortly before the journalist's murder. Bahati was reportedly shot dead after the three assassins followed him a short distance. The coordinator of Radio Maria/Goma was shot at least twice in the chest at close range. He leaves behind his wife and three children. “Edmond was a man of peace who put himself at the service of the community and the church. His death is a great loss,” said a Radio Maria employee.
Journalists in Goma face constant threats via phone or text message. Community radio stations like Radio Maria/Goma are an important information tool in crisis and war zones like North Kivu. That is why they are uncomfortable for the various warring parties because they denounce violence against the civilian population. The violence in the city, residents complain, continues despite the state of siege declared by the authorities on May 6, 2021 in North Kivu and the neighboring province of Ituri (see Fides, May 7, 2021).
The army's use of irregular armed groups to stop the advance of the M23 militias has further exacerbated insecurity in the capital of North Kivu.
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Archbishop of Kinshasa, emphasized in an interview with Fides (see Fides, April 18, 2024): “These armed groups ultimately become a danger to the population by plundering citizens, committing robberies and murders and engaging in activities .” in the illegal trade in minerals mined in the region’s small-scale mines. (LM) (Agenzia Fides, September 30, 2024)

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