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Democratic Republic of Congo

Mai Mai Feuding Displaces Thousands

Civilians uprooted by fighting between rival militias in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
By IWPR staff - International Justice - ICC
ACR Issue 305,
20 Oct 11
  • A multimedia interview with a mineral trader in Mubi. While Marie uses her mobile phone as a camera to record material for a video feature, Melanie holds up a microphone for a radio package. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
  • Another multimedia interview, this time with a former cassiterite miner. The young man’s dream is to become a journalist, but jobs are scarce. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
  • A briefing by A UN official at Walikale Centre, before traveling on one of the most dangerous roads in Congo. Destination, Kibua. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
  • On the road to Kibua. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
  • After six hours in a UN jeep on a bumpy road, Melanie and Marie finally arrive in Kibua, a small town in North Kivu where IDPs have found refuge after intense fighting between two local militias forced them to leave their homes in Mutengo. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
  • Under a school porch where they have been living for weeks now, the IDPs listen to Marie and the Mwami (the local chief) explaining the purpose of the |IWPR visit. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
  • A woman listens to the Mwami explaining the hardships the IDPs have been through in the past months. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
  • Marie interviews one of the IDPs, who explains reasons behind the Mutengo attack. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
  • In the relative privacy of a classroom, Marie starts interviewing a few women in their local language. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
  • Marie posing with some of her family members, who are among the IDPs. Shaken by the appalling living conditions, she could not help feeling guilt and sadness at not being able to help them further. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
  • “They will be ok. You have to be strong for them,” Melanie tells Marie. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
  • Sharing impressions with the Mwami, Marie and Melanie ask him for his views on bringing security to the region. “We need a strong leadership who can control these warlords. They are like children fighting for the schoolyard,” he said. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
  • Reflecting on the Kibua assignment in the UN helicopter. (Photo: Tom Bradley)

Fighting between two Mai Mai militias in eastern DRC earlier this year led to 6,300 people fleeing from Mutengo to the village of Kibua. IWPR reporters Melanie Gouby and Marie Noëllard Muhindo set off on a United Nations-facilitated trip to the village in the North Kivu territory of Walikale, to report on the situation for the IWPR radio programme Face à la Justice. They found dire conditions of distress and poverty; and Marie discovered that members of her own family were among the displaced.

Photographs by Tom Bradley tombradley.wordpress.com

 
 
 
 

also see: IWPR Postcard

Melanie (centre) and to the right Marie, wearing white, green and yellow top, on assignment in Kibua. (Photo: Tom Bradley)
Kibua Assignment Brings Relief to IDPs
Mélanie Gouby
Radio report by IWPR Congolese trainee elicits help for thousands of civilians uprooted by fighting in eastern DRC.
More Postcards

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International Justice/ICC: Aug/Sept '11
IWPR radio programme on commemoration of war dead provokes discussion on controversy that’s rarely aired by northern media outlets.
Mai Mai Feuding Displaces Thousands
Civilians uprooted by fighting between rival militias in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.