(JED/IFEX) – On 3 April 2005, Augustin Bulaimu, governor of South Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), threatened to close the province’s community radio stations during a press conference held at the gubernatorial residence. Bulaimu told the conference that the stations did not “make [his] voice heard” and that it was their […]
(JED/IFEX) – On 3 April 2005, Augustin Bulaimu, governor of South Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), threatened to close the province’s community radio stations during a press conference held at the gubernatorial residence.
Bulaimu told the conference that the stations did not “make [his] voice heard” and that it was their responsibility to “talk about the authorities’ activities, however unimportant they might seem.”
Speaking out against Radio France Internationale (RFI) reporter Ghislaine Dupont, who was in Kinshasa and Bukavu in late March, Bulaimu told the conference, “This woman strolled into the Provincial Governor’s Office and [they] gave her useless information. As a result, she produced bad reports (. . .).”
Bulaimu was referring to Dupont’s recent reports on [provincial] mismanagement, the erratic nature of service delivery in the province, and the perennial discord between the governor and his two deputy governors.
