Since yesterday, the city of Uvira has remained off from all forms of telecommunication. Internet is down and GSM networks are all dead.
Emails, messaging platforms and every modern means of communication remain inaccessible. This is no longer a temporary disruption, it is a sustained blackout.
Reports indicate that it was executed by hired mercenaries operating under the “Black Waters” label, acting on instructions transmitted from Kinshasa through FARDC command structures.
The reason behind the blackout is painfully obvious. It is meant to conceal violence. Abductions that should not be traced. Killings that should not be filmed. Rapes that should not be reported and looting that should not be documented.
The indiscipline of Wazalendo and its coalition of the evil made of FDLR elements, Burundian forces and FARDC units needed darkness to operate freely.
As the abuses multiplied, so did the exposure, videos circulated and voice notes leaked. Testimonies spread beyond Uvira faster than official lies could keep up. The narrative was slipping out of control, and the mirror being held to power was becoming too clear.
Faced with that reality, Tshisekedi and his subordinates went into panic. Instead of restraining their forces or protecting civilians, they chose to silence the victims. This was never part of the arrangement.
When M23 vacated the city and handed it over to UN forces, there was no agreement authorizing the collective punishment of civilians through a communication blackout. There was no clause allowing Uvira to be turned into an information prison so that crimes could be committed without witnesses.
A government that must shut down phones, data and platforms to survive is admitting that it cannot withstand scrutiny. Authority that depends on silence is not authority at all. It is control without legitimacy.
No blackout will erase what happened in Uvira. No prolonged shutdown will cleanse the crimes committed under cover of silence. The absence of the internet does not mean the absence of memory.
Closing communication networks is not governance, it is a confession. And as long as Uvira remains silent, that confession grows louder.