Mbandaka, 5 February 2013 – On 31 January 2013, Pierre Kamulete, district commissioner of Sud-Ubangi, Equateur province, visited Dongo, within the framework of ongoing pacification efforts in a region that suffered social unrest in 2009 following the insurgency of the Mouvement de Libération indépendant et Alliés (MLIA – Independent Liberation Movement and Allies). The district commissioner was accompanied by a delegation of the Ministry of Interior.

During his visit, Mr. Kamulete held meetings with different communities, including Lobala, Boba, Bomboma, Bomboli and Monzombo, which were requesting some assistance to organize a traditional ritual, following the reconciliation forum organized in Dongo from 18 to 19 December 2012. As a goodwill gesture, the district commissioner gave each community an unspecified amount of money to help out the traditional chiefs in organizing their rituals. Following this step, the communities will gather in Gemena for a major reconciliation ceremony under the auspices of the Minister of Interior, and in the presence of several officials of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

MONUSCO is fully engaged in researching peace between communities through awareness sessions, establishing a community radio in the capital city of the district, organizing recreational and sports activities to bring these communities closer to each other, and also creating "local conciliation committees".

In Dongo, the head of the Minister of Interior delegation encouraged all the communities to live together peacefully, and asked them to see through the politicians who only think about their personal interests. As he bid them farewell, he said he looked forward to seeing them again, in mid-February 2013, for the signing of a pact of non-aggression between the communities.

Jean-Tobie Okala/ MONUSCO