Dictatorial abuses and financial extortion are intensifying in areas under the control of the AFC-M23 rebellion. After undermining the education system by suspending free education, the rebel movement is now targeting the medical sector.
In the Masisi health zone, every member of the medical and administrative staff is now forced to pay 2 percent of their salary to the movement. According to several consistent accounts gathered directly from local sources, this forced levy is presented by the rebels as a so-called “contribution by health facilities toward their own operations.”
To enforce this measure, the M23 is exploiting the local medical hierarchy, entrusting the burdensome task of collecting funds to registered nurses as well as to the Health Infrastructure Management Administrators (AGIS).
The way this tax is enforced borders on organized extortion. All employees, without exception—from the medical director down to the security guard—are required to make an advance payment covering a three-month period. To do so, the rebels demand the use of the Airtel Money mobile payment platform.
In the face of this fraudulent system, dissent is not tolerated. No fewer than 15 sources from various healthcare facilities in Masisi confirm the climate of terror that has been established: any refusal or delay in payment exposes employees to severe reprisals, ranging from immediate expulsion from their workplace to imprisonment for “disobeying the movement’s orders.”
This suffocating financial pressure exerted on healthcare workers stands in stark contrast to the attitude of the authorities in Kinshasa.
While the AFC-M23 is plundering the meager incomes of public servants, the Congolese government, for its part, continues to fulfill its constitutional obligations.
Despite the complex security situation and the territorial control exercised by the rebels, the central government maintains its logistical and financial support for health facilities in Masisi. The Republic’s objective remains unchanged: to guarantee access to quality health care for civilian populations held hostage by the conflict, reaffirming the state’s presence through public service, even in the heart of occupied areas.
Written by Azarias Mokonzi