It is no longer possible to travel from Butembo to Goma because the M23 rebels have cut off a major access road linking the two cities.
Since the M23 rebels captured the town of Kitchanga, traffic between the city of Goma and Butembo has been cut off. This road axis is the only one that served as an outline and facilitated traffic between the two metropolises of the province of North Kivu.
Users of this section say they are asphyxiated and plead for an urgent solution.
Jimmy Munguluma, president of the National Union of Transport Agencies based in Butembo explained that the situation is very difficult.
“We no longer work, yet we are tenants, we have children to educate and families to feed, what are we going to do? “,Munguluma said.
“The Great North is cut off from its provincial capital. Patients from Beni and Butembo who have no possibility of plane tickets, no longer know how to reach Goma to receive treatment. There are also food products that leave Goma to supply the Far North and vice versa,” explains Munguluma.
Nearly thirty drivers have been stranded for a week between Kitshanga and Masisi-center with their passengers and goods, adds the president of the National Union of Transport Agencies of Butembo.
These drivers are asking Monusco, the EAC force and the Armed Forces of the Republic for assistance in order to be able to organize escorts to break this impasse.
