To effectively combat urban banditry, which is reaching alarming proportions throughout the country, the Congolese government launched operation “Zero Kuluna” more than a week ago. This initiative aims to track down, judge and severely punish the uncivil people responsible for the desolation in the cities of the DRC. According to the Minister of State for Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Constant Mutamba, the culprits risk the death penalty.
At the end of a public trial which he attended this Thursday, December 5 in Kinshasa, Constant Mutamba, leading figure of this operation, declared to the press that the criminals sentenced to death will be executed, in order to serve as an example .
“Operation Zero Kuluna consists of tracking down those who sow death and desolation in our cities, putting them on trial and, as I announced yesterday, sentencing them to death. And those who are sentenced to death will be executed. This will serve as a lesson and bring order and peace to our society,” said the Minister of Justice.
Mr. Mutamba also specified that the convicted criminals will be transferred to highly secure prisons, notably that of Angenga, located in the territory of Gemena, in the province of South Ubangi.
“We are already taking all the necessary logistical arrangements to evacuate them outside of Kinshasa. We will pursue all Kuluna to their last entrenchment. We will chase them into the toilets so that they understand that state authority is restored throughout the territory,” he added.
In the capital Kinshasa, considered the epicenter of urban banditry, certain neighborhoods remain dangerous, day and night. In communes such as Ngaba, Makala or Kisenso, cases of extreme violence are regularly reported. Last week, in the Kabila district of Kisenso, armed Kuluna youths attacked homes, stealing money and valuable goods, raping women and girls, for seven consecutive days.
Samir LUKOMBO
