After latest boat disaster, Congo bishops chide government on waterway safety

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – After the latest lethal shipwreck in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in this case a ferry that capsized, causing the deaths of at least 87 people, the country’s Catholic bishops expressed “dismay” that the government hasn’t done more to promote safety on Congolese waterways.

The ferry, called the MV Merdi, went down Oct. 3 on Lake Kivu, in the eastern part of the DRC, just over 700 yards from the port where it was supposed to dock. The boat had set off from the Port of Minova in South Kivu Province earlier in the day, and was en route to Goma in the North Kivu Province when strong waves caused it to sink.

Reports say there were about 278 people in the boat, with at least 83 dead and the majority of passengers still unaccounted for.

The Catholic radio station “Radio Opkapi” reported that more than 180 people have died in boat wrecks in the DRC within the last six months. Over the same period, more than 600 people were reported missing, while at least 275 were rescued following these tragedies. The station said most of the accidents involved wooden boats, often ill-equipped to navigate the country’s waterways.

In response to the latest such disaster, the bishops of the DRC issued an Oct. 4 statement expressing their spiritual closeness with the victims and urging the Congolese government to take urgent measures to safeguard travel by water.

Such interventions by the bishops carry special weight in the DRC, which has the largest Catholic population in Africa and where church leaders have long played critically important roles in national affairs.

“It is distressing that citizens continue to lose their lives in repeated boat capsizes across the country and that no safety measures have been taken to modernize the maritime fleet,” the country’s episcopal conference said in its statement.

The statement, signed by the conference’s president, Archbishop Fulgence Muteba Mugalu of Lubumbashi, said the bishops had received “with dismay” the news of the boat capsize, which resulted in several deaths and significant material damage.

The bishops said they share in the suffering of the affected families, and declared that it was “up to the Government to assume its responsibilities to ensure the safety of the population’s navigation and thus avoid one death too many”.

The bishops entrusted the bereaved families to faith in God “in the hope of the resurrection.”

For its part, the country’s political class wants a thorough investigation into the recent tragedy.

The L’Union sacrée de la nation (“Sacred Union of the Nation”), the ruling coalition within the parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has called for legal action against those responsible for the recent incident.

“It is up to the justice system to question all those involved in this tragedy and to bring them before the courts to answer for their actions,” said the coordinator of the coalition, Christian Tombo Kamundala.

“We recommend that the competent authorities carry out a rigorous investigation to clarify the real cause of this shipwreck and take the necessary maritime measures to ensure the safety of our people travelling on Lake Kivu,” he said in an Oct. 5 statement.

Tombo recommended that the government pay for the funerals of the victims of the shipwreck, while also urging the people of North Kivu to support the peace-building efforts initiated by the President of the Republic, so that the roads can be reopened.

“It is up to the government to take charge of the victims’ funerals and to provide appropriate assistance to their families,” he said.

The country’s Transport Minister has already opened an investigation to clarify the causes of the accident and to take the necessary measures to ensure that such tragedies are avoided in future.

The Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seal, Constant Mutamba, has also instructed the judicial authorities to open investigations and punish those responsible.

The human toll of the dangers on Congo’s waterways, meanwhile, is a constant accompaniment to the political debate.

A 51-year old survivor of the Oct. 3 capsize, Alfani Buroko Byamungu, speaking to the Reuters news agency from his hospital bed, said he was saved by God’s grace.

“I saw people sinking, many went under. I saw women and children sinking in the water, and I myself was on the verge of drowning, but God helped me.”

Writing on X, a government official noted that the town of Goma “was in turmoil on Thursday when a boat sank with all its passengers on board just 200 meters from the shore on Lake Kivu.”

“The waves may wash away lives, but memories and love remain forever anchored in our hearts,” he said.