A journalist working for UN-backed Radio Okapi in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was shot dead on Friday night. Didace Namujimbo is the second Radio Okapi reporter to be killed in the South Kivu provincial capital Bukavu in the past 18 months.
"Once again a Radio Okapi journalist has been killed in Bukavu. Didace Namujimbo was killed by a shot to the head by unknown assailants on Friday night near his home," Radio Okapi said on its website on Saturday. The station is supported by the Fondation Hirondelle and the UN Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC).
With the exception of a mobile phone, personal valuables—including US$50 in his wallet—were not taken, according to his brother Déo Namujimbo, who is the local vice-president of the Congolese National Press Union. Neighbours allegedly heard a heated exchange between the journalist and the alleged gunmen shortly before the shooting, according to news reports. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is investigating to determine whether he was killed because of his journalism.
No arrests have been made, but Radio Okapi quoted Bukavu public prosecutor Jacques Melimeli as saying that a forensic investigation was under way. The journalist was hit with a single bullet in the neck, he said.
"We condemn the heinous murder of another colleague at Radio Okapi, Didace Namujimbo, and send our condolences to his family and colleagues," said Tom Rhodes, CPJ's Africa programme coordinator. "Impunity for violence against the media is more often the norm than the exception in Congo. We call on Congolese authorities in Bukavu to pursue all possible leads and conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into this killing."
Namujimbo was a Radio Okapi reporter since February 2006, according to Florien Barbey, bureau chief of the Bukavu station. Although Namujimbo had not reported any threats during his employment there, Barbey said that Okapi would now ask staffers to begin "systematically" reporting any dangers. UN vehicles escort Radio Okapi journalists to and from work.
Namujimbo was the second Radio Okapi journalist recently murdered under murky circumstances. In June 2007, Serge Maheshe was killed in Bukavu. In May, a Bukavu military tribunal sentenced three civilians to death for that murder, but local and international legal experts denounced irregularities in the proceedings. It was not confirmed that Maheshe was killed because of his work.
Radio Okapi editor Léonard Mulamba told Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) that Namujimbo, who had worked for Radio Okapi for several years, had done a lot of reporting on the Maheshe murder trial. “Is it the same people seeking revenge?” Mulamba asked. “That is a supposition,” he added. “This continues to be a dangerous region where all stories are sensitive, including military stories and stories about rape.”
Namujimbo is the fifth Congolese journalist murdered since 2005, according to CPJ research. Three others, Patrick Kikuku Wilungula, Franck Ngyke Kangundu, and Bapuwa Mwamba have been murdered in unclear circumstances, according to CPJ research. There have been no arrests in Wilungula's murder and investigations into the deaths of Kanugundu and Mwamba did not establish a clear motive for the crimes.
“Our first thoughts are for Namujimbo’s relatives and colleagues, to whom we express our fullest support,” RSF said. “The trial of Maheshe’s supposed murderers was a fiasco and thereby paved the way for this second despicable murder, which leaves all the journalists working in the east of the country completely exposed to the threat of further violence.”
It said, “The Congolese authorities must not treat this case with the same negligence. A serious and immediate investigation must at all costs be carried out to find the person who fired the shot and to identify those behind the murder. There is no more room for botched investigations and grotesque sham trials.”
South Kivu borders on war-torn North Kivu, the scene of renewed fighting between the government and its allies and Tutsi rebels.
