In Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the tenth edition of the Amani festival has been canceled. The announcement was made this Thursday by the event management. This festival, which was to celebrate its tenth anniversary, had planned the participation of international artists such as Black M and Ferré Gola.
Amani, meaning “peace” in Swahili, is considered the largest festival in the Great Lakes region. This cancellation was made by the town hall, the day before the first day of the festival, on the grounds that it had not informed in time of the event. This cancellation causes great disappointment among the organizers and residents.
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The mayor of Goma justified this cancellation by the fact that the organizers had not informed his services. A reason however contested by the organizers who claim to have informed the town hall and recall that their festival has taken place every year for ten years.
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Guillaume Bisimwa is the director of the Amani festival. For him, this event is not only cultural, but also a plea for peace, in a region affected by violence linked to the conflict between the M23 rebels and the Congolese army.
“Cit’s a sadness, it’s a spirit of injustice, it’s a spirit of not helping development, he laments. It’s a hard blow, but I think that as young people, as actors of culture, we must stay strong. It takes a toll on us physically, mentally and financially. I do not agree with the reason (put forward by the town hall) because the Amani festival was announced. We have written to all the authorities since last August. I find that it is a spirit that does not allow the city to develop.”
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On social networks, a large majority of Internet users share their dissatisfaction with this decision by municipal authorities.
The reactions of the residents are clear: they express their disappointment at the cancellation of an event which, for them, symbolizes hope and unity. Richard Shadary and Alice Matumo also question the argument of the insecurity that reigns in the region.
For Richard Shadary, “the Amani festival, for me, is one of the ways to plead for peace. For ten editions, there has not been stable peace in Kivu. To say that the war was one of the causes of its cancellation, we can take that as a pretext Because we can talk about the responsibility: is it the responsibility of the organizers of the Amani festival to bring peace to North Kivu?”
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For her part, Alice Matumo believes that “if it’s because of insecurity, insecurity is still here in Goma. There are other ceremonies that took place, but I don’t know why, they canceled the Amani festival. I am against this. It helps the population to forget the war.”
The degraded security situation in eastern DRC, with the M23 rebels located near the city of Goma, had already forced the festival to postpone its dates several times this year.
