Goma: What Have We Done to God to Deserve All This?

M23 fighters at border between Rwanda and DRC. At least 2,800 people have died in renewed hostilities. Credit- Ajabu Adolphe-IPS

By Ajabu Adolphe

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Feb 6 2025 (IPS) - Zawadi Delphine is a soldier’s wife and mother of three. She and her family live in Camp Katindo, east of the city of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu.

Recalling what happened on the night of Sunday, January 26, 2025, she says that her husband had come from the front, north of the city of Goma, visibly angry and in a hurry. Without telling her what was really going on, he had told her that they would only meet again by “divine grace.”

“He told me that he and his fellow soldiers were heading for the Kituku dock, south of Goma. That was the time he told me we’d see each other again, God willing. Since that day, I’ve lost all contact,” she says tearfully.

Delphine says she fears her husband died in the exchange of fire between government troops and M23 troops backed by the Rwandan army.

She now considers herself a widow and has lost all hope of seeing her husband again. She says she has seen people dying at the Katindo military camp, right in the heart of the city of Goma, because of the violence.

“I wonder what we’ve done to God to deserve all this. How can people kill each other in this way under the impotent gaze of all the nations of the world?” she complains, sitting under a tent erected for a funeral.

M23 declared a “humanitarian” ceasefire that was due to start on Tuesday, February 4, but launched a new offensive on the mining town of Nyabibwe, South Kivu province, and according to news reports and with the help of Rwandan troops, seized it.

Reuters says at least 2,800 people have died in the fighting, including 17 peacekeepers, 14 of whom were South African soldiers in the DRC as part of the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) and the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and aid workers.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs spokesperson Jens Laerke told Reuters that it was “important to note that figures remain fluid and difficult to verify.”

The new offensive comes days before the Rwandan and Congolese presidents are due to attend a crisis summit.

Vivian van de Perre, on February 5 told journalists  that “the situation is still highly volatile, with persistent risks of escalation,” and emphasized that emilitary action alone would not resolve the conflict.

The hostilities are occurring in a mineral-rich region that has been unstable for decades amid a proliferation of armed groups, which has forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes over the years and seek safety in displacement camps.

She warned that the peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO)—where she serves as deputy head—was operating in an increasingly challenging environment.

“The mission’s key infrastructures in Goma are overwhelmed, with both UN personnel and Congolese seeking shelter within our premises,” said Van de Perre. Pressure on space is growing—some 2,000 people are on site—and on “critical resources” like water, food and sanitation.

The hostilities also strained relations between Rwanda and South Africa and talks were held to diffuse the situation by foreign ministers. Rwandan President Paul Kagame, on X accused South African President Cyril Ramaphosa of “misrepresentations,”and  “deliberate attacks” at odds with a phone discussions with him earlier in the week.

Reports that South African Defense Minister, Angie Motshekga, had claimed that Ramaphosa had told Kagame in a phone call: “If you’re going to fire, take it as a declaration of war, and we’d have to defend our people,” were at the centre of the tensions. South African Minister of International Relations, Ronald Lamola, also on X, said both parties were “committed to advancing dialogue on eastern DRC and agreed to pursue the spirit of the ceasefire agreement.”

Van de Perre said peace was a priority for the region. “The people of the DRC deserve peace, security and stability.”

Nobody understands this more than those on the frontlines.

Yvonne Mahali is 23 years old and lives in the Bujovu district, on the border with Rwanda. She lost two brothers when the M23 rebels took Goma. Her neighborhood was one of those that witnessed the entry of M23 and Rwandan troops into Goma on Sunday evening.

“We who stay, may survive. But at what price. Anxiety gnaws at us day after day. The uncertainty, the fear, the pain of seeing our city crumble before our very eyes. We survivors are in danger of being swept away by anguish,” she says, her voice betrays her anxierty, tears well up in her eyes.

Mahali says she witnessed some horrific scenes, which she believes will remain etched in her memory for an eternity. She also lived through the capture of the city of Goma by M23 fighters in November 2012.

“It’s hard to see my neighborhood wiped out, to witness mourning on every plot, to see houses destroyed. Who will build these houses? Where will their occupants go?” she asks.

Félix Tshisekedi, President of the DRC, promised a “vigorous response” from the Congolese army following the occupation of the town of Goma. His spokesperson today (February 6) he will attent joint summit of Eastern and Southern African leaders in Tanzania on tomorrow and Saturday, February 7-8, to discuss the conflict in eastern Congo, his spokesperson said.

Van de Perre called on calling on all parties to “put an end to hostilities, prioritise dialogue and work towards a peaceful resolution.”

However, promises of talks are far from reassuring for Ndoole Jules, a 28-year-old resident of Goma who lost his grandmother in a shell explosion in the Mugunga district, during fighting between the FARDC and M23 rebels.

“The president doesn’t seem to understand the unfortunate consequences of war. If he’d found a solution long ago, Goma wouldn’t have become an epicenter of human despair.”