On 10 September 2025, Wazalendo militiamen gave the Tutsi 10 days to leave Uvira or face death. African Facts looks back at the two weeks of extreme tension and clashes between the militias and the Kinshasa authorities that preceded this ultimatum, and assesses the current situation in South Kivu’s second largest town.
“We are giving the Tutsi of Uvira ten days. All Tutsi in Uvira, go home. In ten days, don’t say we didn’t warn you. Don’t say we are chasing you away just to steal your property. Take them with you. If you can fit your house in a lorry, take it and go back to Rwanda”, said a man in an audio message broadcast on 10 September 2025. This message caused widespread fear. Nine days later, soldiers and militiamen were canvassing certain neighbourhoods. “This morning, we woke up to a lockdown in the Namyanda neighbourhood, where many people from the Banyamulenge community live”, said Muyoboke Ntabaye, president of the Banyamulenge mutual aid association in Uvira yesterday.
South Kivu’s second largest city has been in turmoil since the end of August. How did it come to this?
For more than three weeks, militiamen and soldiers have been fighting in Uvira. The cause is the presence of officers identified as Tutsi in the army ranks. The first clashes were sparked by the funeral of one of these officers. The appointment of another officer was the final straw, setting the powder keg alight and plunging the city into chaos.
First clashes against a backdrop of racism
Hostilities between the militias and the regular army were triggered by a seemingly insignificant event. On 25 August 2025, Colonel Patrick Ngabonziza Rusimbi, also known as Gisore, was buried in Uvira following his death in a plane crash. Colonel Gisore was from the Banyamulenge community, a Rwandan-speaking pastoralist group that has been living in the highlands since the 17th century. However, many of the Wazalendo militias stationed in the Uvira region are deeply hostile towards this community. These militias deny the Banyamulenge the right to exist in Congo, portraying them as “infiltrators”, “invaders” and “Rwandans”.
Since a presidential decree in November 2023, a wide range of paramilitary groups have been officially recognised as “reservists” and referred to as Wazalendo (“the patriots” in Kiswahili). In the Uvira region, the Wazalendo mainly comprise community armed groups gathered under the nihilistic name Biloze Bishamuke (“Let everything be destroyed” in the Kifuliru language). The Mouvement des patriotes en défense des autochtones congolais (MPDAC, Movement of Patriots in Defence of Indigenous Congolese) is one of the Uvirian militias that play a leading role. Other significant forces originating in the neighbouring Fizi territory and driven by violent xenophobic ideas are also currently present in Uvira: the Coalition nationale du peuple pour la souveraineté du Congo (CNPSC, National People’s Coalition for the Sovereignty of Congo), commanded by the self-proclaimed General William Yakutumba; and the Mai Mai René, commanded by the self-proclaimed General René Itongwa.
On 25 August, a minibus carrying members of the Banyamulenge community from Burundi to attend Colonel Gisore’s funeral passed through Uvira, which escalated the situation. The Wazalendo gathered and blocked the avenue running through the Mulongwe neighbourhood. “We stopped the bus coming from Burundi, which is full of Rwandans. We want them to go home; if they don’t, we’ll kill them. Banyamulenge? They’re not Congolese — we’ll kill them”, explained a young Wazalendo, who was filmed holding a rifle. The regular army quickly arrived and the two forces faced each other on the avenue. Residents filmed the scene. “All these people on the bus are Rwandans. They don’t belong here. Aren’t they ashamed of what they’re doing to us? Really?! They’re coming to Uvira?! God help us with this tribe”, the Wazalendo militiamen rant in one of the videos viewed by African Facts.
The confrontation finally erupted after the funeral. Wazalendo members opened fire with automatic weapons on the same minibus that was making its way towards Burundi. The perpetrators of the shooting, members of a Biloze Bishamuke militia led by a certain James Bitolo, had been terrorising the region for several months and were known for targeted killings of Banyamulenge and atrocities posted on social media, including the dismemberment of a young man two weeks earlier. The army intervened and shot dead six Wazalendo, according to civil society reports, two, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
James Bitolo’s group, along with other Biloze Bishamuke militiamen and Mai Mai fighters, then attacked and looted the evangelical church where Colonel Gisore’s funeral was held. Muyoboke Ntabaye was there. “I was among the people who were arrested in the church. They were shooting at us. Then they stole the crates of drinks, as well as vehicles, medical equipment, telephones, etc.”, he says. Videos we have seen and other testimonies corroborate the reality of this attack. “The serious acts in the town of Uvira began on 25 August and the population has no peace since then”, laments Muyoboke Ntabaye.
In a statement released on the same day, the South Kivu government spokesperson downplayed the events as a “minor disruption of activities in Mulongwe” that caused no damage and he condemned the organisers of the funeral ceremonies. He added that he also condemned “all messages aimed at tearing apart the social fabric between communities through discriminatory rhetoric”, but immediately went on to mention a “media war waged by the rebels […] to destroy the morale of the valiant” Congolese military and Wazalendo militiamen.
Nevertheless, the fighting continued in the days that followed. “We are united, and we have just calmed the soldiers down. It is 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday, 26 [August 2025]. We are here in the mountains with all my soldiers”, says a young member of James Bitolo’s group, filming a video on the heights of Uvira at dusk. “We can still hear gunfire in Kavivira [the northern district of Uvira, Ed.]. The army is fighting the Wazalendo of Rukumeta [the MPDAC commander who died in June 2025 Ed.]. Now they’re calling us to go to Kavivira. I’m tired and sick of this. We took up arms to liberate the country, and now we are being attacked by the government. They are killing many of our fighters. We don’t know why. We are the children of this country — we are patriots!” According to information gathered by African Facts in the days following the funeral, around 30 people are believed to have lost their lives during these initial clashes.
From the perspective of the militia, these events are taking on the appearance of a crusade in the tropics. Members of Biloze Bishamuke can be seen in videos kneeling and singing an unusual prayer.
Our parents and children are being killed by the Tutsi who invaded Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Sudan and even wanted to take Burundi.
God who created heaven and earth, we call upon you. You have the power and authority. All power comes from you. Oh my father! We have no dawa [meaning “medicine” in Kiswahili, referring to the fetishes carried by the Mai Mai or the substances they consume, Ed]. You are our dawa!
Give us the heart of a soldier. Give us the stone to strike down Goliath. We cannot always recognise the enemy immediately, but give us the strength to fight him.
We want to liberate Burari. We want to liberate Walungu. We want to liberate Bukavu. We want to liberate Goma and all the way to Bunagana. Let us put this country back in the hands of the Congolese people.
Oh God! Defend our government.
Oh God! Defend our authorities.
Oh God! We must eliminate the traitors. Neutralise all the enemies who want to manipulate us.
Oh God who created heaven and earth! May the lion devour the enemies who trample on this land!
Uvira in turmoil
On 1 September 2025, General Olivier Gasita arrived in Uvira, having been appointed head of military intelligence there by the president. Except that he happens to have born in the Banyamulenge community. On 2 September, the Wazalendo block the roads, erect barricades, and announce a four-day ghost town operation.
James Bitolo was the first to speak from a roadblock. “We don’t want any Rwandans here”, he says. “We have blocked the road so that the sector commander will hand General Gasita over to us. I’m not going to kill him right away. We’re going to send him back where he came from. […] There will be no activity in Uvira today, tomorrow or the day after, until I have seen him. There will be no peace”, threatened the militiaman, for whom “those who cause all our problems are the Tutsi. They call themselves the Banyamulenge, but they are Rwandans”.
The next day, with the blockade still in place, Mai Mai leader René Itongwa spoke out. “We are against Gasita because his mindset is that of an M23. Gasita is like the M23. That’s why we are against him. […] Since yesterday, our men have been waiting all night for us to take him back to the border. […] We want to see him cross and leave. Once that is confirmed, activities can resume”. Next, the local chief of Biloze Bishamuke, John Makanaki Kasimbira, made his own statement on camera. “Here in Uvira, we don’t want any foreigners. We don’t want commanders who don’t have a Congolese appearance sent to us. These commanders keep secrets from us, and we won’t accept that. If they send us a Rwandan face, things are going to go badly”, he threatened.
A meeting was organised with the authorities on 5 September 2025 in an attempt to resolve the situation. Mai Mai leader William Yakutumba took the floor and supported the movement. “All the Wazalendo have taken up arms to fight the enemy. Their mission is to liberate the country. In the meantime, we do not want there to be people among us who are selling out the country”, he began, eliciting thunderous applause. “In Bukavu, certain authorities sold the city. And to this day, they are still in place in Kinshasa. These people are coming to Uvira. They want to rule the city. We, the Wazalendo, have decided that we do not want the man who has been sent here. We do not want him!”
On 6 September, the Congolese army spokesman attempted to distance himself clumsily from the militiamen. “Collaborating with the Wazalendo does not mean that we are managing the Wazalendo”, he told a press conference, thereby admitting Kinshasa’s inability to control these militias, which have been legalised by presidential decree and are officially supervised by the regular army. However, two weeks earlier, the same officer had legitimised and supported conspiratorial and racist assertions made by the Wazalendo in the neighbouring province of North Kivu, as reported by African Facts. But in Uvira, the situation is spiralling out of control.
The city remained paralysed in the days that followed. The racist nature of the Wazalendo mobilisation, supported by civil society organisations, became apparent. Notably, the Banyamulenge community was arbitrarily denied access to water. “It was in the Kabindula neighbourhood. From 4 September, the Banyamulenge were denied the right to draw water for at least five days, until 11 September. They told them to go and collect water in Rwanda. It was an extremely difficult situation”, explains Muyoboke Ntabaye. This injustice prompted a protest from the provincial interior minister on 7 September. However, this went unheeded. The Banyamulenge community also reported several cases of abduction and disappearance.
On Monday 8 September, the Wazalendo announced a new ghost town operation. The following day, 9 September, saw a large demonstration in Uvira, during which the FARDC fired into the crowd, killing at least five people. And on 10 September, it was announced that Gasita was no longer in Uvira. The militiamen had forced Kinshasa to back down.
Macabre ultimatum
However, General Gasita’s departure is not enough for the Wazalendo. Galvanised by their political victory, some want to go further. “There are many Gasitas in Uvira. His departure does not solve the problem. The solution is for all Tutsis to leave the city. We don’t want any Tutsis in Uvira. They must all leave. We are launching Operation ‘Return of the Tutsis to Rwanda’. Getting rid of Gasita was only the beginning. There are many more”, says a man in Kiswahili in an audio message. He also claims to have “lists” of people he describes as “accomplices” of the “enemies”. He gives the Tutsis ten days to leave the city. African Facts traced this message back to its first broadcast in a WhatsApp group for Wazalendo militiamen.
“If you are Tanzanian, bring your documents, because we know there are Tutsi among you. I also ask the Mai Mai to arrest all Maasai sandal sellers and bring them to our headquarters for inspection until we find out where they live. They are also infiltrators”, the militiaman accuses. In recent weeks, the Congolese intelligence services have launched a large-scale operation to track down and detain Maasai people in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri. This has resulted in torture at the hands of the military and the lynching of a young man who was burned alive by the Wazalendo. African Facts has investigated these sinister events.
The message of 10 September is chilling. The plan, as outlined by the militiaman without filters or circumlocution, is the paroxysmal, but inevitable, culmination of the racist culture that structures the majority of the Wazalendo militias. If those who promote this ideology were to succeed in establishing its hegemony, the militiaman is merely verbalising what would then be its terrible logical extension.
The other Wazalendo to whom the author submitted this speech has not contradicted it. Will the threat be carried out at the end of the stated period? It is impossible to answer with certainty. However, it should be noted that the persecution of people identified as Tutsi by their tormentors has intensified over the past several years. Several Wazalendo leaders in the region have also openly made similar statements in recent months.
The situation in Uvira remains volatile. The Wazalendo’s distrust of the military does not seem to be subsiding. In his message, the militiaman addresses them directly: “We know that you are infiltrated by the Tutsi. Make sure you send all these Tutsis far away. We don’t want them in Uvira or Fizi”, he asserts. He believes that the confrontation could restart at any moment: “The Wazalendo must not be naive and believe that it is over. The military is preparing a major action against us. Kinshasa wants to disarm us. You must keep your finger on the trigger. If you see any suspicious movements, shoot the soldier!”
Nonetheless, the military and militiamen got along yesterday morning and acted together to intervene in the Nyabianda neighbourhood. “The soldiers, the Mai Mai and people in police uniforms initiated the lockdown at 05:00 and it lasted until 13:00. Many members of our community were arrested without valid reason — more than fifteen people in total. Some were taken to Wazalendo militia cells instead of government buildings. Many valuable items have been stolen”, Muyoboke Ntabaye told African Facts. “The Banyamulenge are still disappointed with their daily lives”, he laments. “Members of the community are very worried and that many are traumatised by being arrested and persecuted without reason”.
