When Tshisekedi launched FONAREV, “the National Fund for Reparations for Victims of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence and Victims of Crimes Against the Peace and Security of Humanity” in 2019, it was announced as a beacon of hope.
Survivors of atrocities in eastern DRC were promised justice, dignity, and financial relief after years of unimaginable suffering.
But today, that promise lies in ruins.
FONAREV has already collected more than $212 million from mining royalties. Yet, according to available reports, only $US 5 million (barely 2.5%) has reached the victims. The rest has been swallowed up by a web of embezzlement, nepotism, and political propaganda.
Instead of serving as a lifeline, the fund has become a private safe for the Tshisekedi family. While survivors wait in despair, the presidential clan enriches itself, transforming tragedy into opportunity.
On the international stage, Tshisekedi tirelessly pleads for recognition of an alleged genocide in eastern Congo. He tours capitals, hosts conferences, and calls for solidarity. Yet back home, the very victims he claims to champion are abandoned.
The crisis in Kivu has become a business model for the Tshisekedi regime. Military expenditures justified by the war serve as conduits for massive embezzlement. Humanitarian aid meant for survivors is diverted into private coffers.
This is no longer a story of weak governance. It is the story of a predatory mafia cloaked in compassion.
Tshisekedi’s wife, Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi, and her circle have taken control of FONAREV, turning it into a personal treasure chest. Survivors are left humiliated and betrayed, their suffering reduced to the regime’s media propaganda.
By plundering FONAREV, the Tshisekedi regime has not only stolen money it has also stolen justice, trampled dignity, and desecrated the memory of the victims.
The very people who were promised relief are forced to watch their pain weaponized for political gain.
The East of the DRC bleeds twice: once from the horrors of conflict, and again from the betrayal of those who claim to govern in its name.