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“Take your bloodstained hands off our Province”: Bishops of Kinshasa Metropolitan, DRC

Members of the Provincial Episcopal Assembly of Kinshasa (ASSEPKIN). Credit: ASSEPKIN

Catholic Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have urged those behind persistent clashes between members of the Yaka and Teke communities in Kwamouth territory to save the Metropolitan See from bloodshed.

In their collective statement issued Sunday, May 21 following their latest Provincial Episcopal Assembly of Kinshasa (ASSEPKIN), the Catholic Bishops urge relevant authorities to “act responsibly to protect” the population.

“Paraphrasing Pope Francis, we say loud and clear to the conscience of those who are truly responsible for these conflicts and massacres: Take your bloodstained hands off our Province,” members of ASSEPKIN say.

They add, “Act responsibly to protect our people. Stop manipulating and instrumentalizing a people already wounded by suffering, misery, and recurring bloodshed.”

The Catholic Church leaders further say, “As a gift from God, all human life is sacred. That is why we urge those who have responsibility at the State level to take matters into their own hands and not to allow innocent people to be killed and die with impunity.”

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“Their responsibility before history and before God will be engaged, if nothing is done to secure people and their property,” they say in their collective statement obtained by ACI Africa.

Since July, more than 142 people have been killed in the inter-communal violence between the Yaka and Teke communities, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported about the violent conflict that was reportedly sparked by a dispute over customary land taxes.

Members of the Teke community consider themselves the original inhabitants of villages spread over 200 kilometers along the Congo River.

In their May 21 collective statement, members of ASSEPKIN lament that “for more than a year, the land conflict in the territory of Kwamouth, in the Province of Mai-Ndombe, has spread like a devastating bushfire to the neighboring Provinces of Kwilu, Kwango, and even Kinshasa.”

“The recent massacres and unrest in Batshiongo, Mongata, Kipulamba, Kabuba, Tadika, and Mayobo farm, causing massive displacement of populations, continue to sow desolation and insecurity,” they add.

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The Catholic Church leaders further say, “After several pastoral field visits, interviews, contacts, and testimonies collected from different segments of the population, we have come to the firm conviction that bloodthirsty, unseen hands from Kinshasa are hiding behind all these conflicts.”

“Indeed, starting from a land dispute, these conflicts are being taken over by people who defend occult political and economic interests,” they say, and add, “Clearly, we are helplessly witnessing a pure instrumentalization of these conflicts by certain politicians in search of local legitimacy.”

In their 10-point collective statement, the members of ASSEPKIN note that “behind the staging of the Teke/Yaka conflict are hidden economic interests aimed at confiscating land from the peoples who have always occupied it in peaceful coexistence.”

“We fear that these conflicts will spread to all of our provinces, taking us further away from the peace we so desire,” the Catholic Bishops in Kinshasa Ecclesiastical Province lament.

They advocate for dialogue toward lasting peace, saying, “We continue to consider that the search for peace requires the ability to dialogue and to engage in true reconciliation between the different tribes or ethnic groups in conflict. It is a matter of promoting true peace, that which the Lord Jesus brings us.”

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“It is also the duty of all of us to consolidate fraternity and harmonious living together among the different peoples, to rebuild the present and the future of the coexistence of a people divided because of selfish interests and political manipulation,” members of ASSEPKIS say.

Making reference to Pope Francis, they caution, “Let violence and hatred no longer have a place in the hearts and on the lips of anyone, for they are inhuman and anti-Christian sentiments that paralyze development and lead back to a dark past.”

The Catholic Church leaders in the Metropolitan See of Kinshasa urge the people of God in the Congolese Ecclesiastical Province to “remain firm and vigilant in prayer.”

“May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace and Our Lady of the Congo, obtain for us from her Son the grace of conversion of hearts, of true peace and of mutual understanding between brothers and sisters of the same Father,” members of ASSEPKIN implore in their March 21 collective statement.

In November 2022, Catholic Bishops in DRC expressed concern about the clashes between the Teke and Yaka communities and called for collective action to restore peace.

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Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.