Kinshasa, July 5th, 2026 (CPA).- The defendant, Brigadier-General Jean-Marie Kasikila, former commander of the Walikale sector in Nord-Kivu, has denied on Saturday the charges of cowardice in the face of the enemy and the demobilisation of soldiers reproached to him by the FARDC General Prosecutor’s Office, during a hearing before the High Military Court, held at its headquarters in the north of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
“General, I have fought the enemy and have succeeded in repelling them, despite the insufficient number of 640 troops found upon my arrival as sector commander, out of a total of 1,782,” has declared the former commander of operations in the Walikale sector in his defence. “As soon as I arrived in Pinga, General, the enemy was already at the entrance to the village, some 17 km away,” he has added. He has claimed to have been informed by the commanders of the 3815th and 3404th regiments of the deployment of other troops in the mining areas in the Kanyanga and Walikale sectors. “I had kept my superiors informed of this situation, General, and they had assured me that orders would be given for these units to leave the mining areas and join me,” he has continued. “The only thing that brought me into conflict with my superiors, General, is the fact that I had ordered the sub-sector commander, stationed in Walikale and under my command, to withdraw the troops deployed in the mining areas so that they could re-join the main force and thus continue to fight the enemy,” has concluded the defendant, Brigadier-General Jean Marie Kasikila, in his testimony.
Earlier, the High Military Court, in a session presided over by Brigadier-General Jean Claude Nzau, has wanted to obtain further details from the defendant regarding the distance between Pinga, his command post (CP), and the town of Walikale, in Nord-Kivu province. “When I received authorisation to leave from the head of the military headquarters, travelling from Kinshasa via Goma and Pinga, General, it was in the village of Pinga that I had set up my command post, 200 kilometres from the town of Walikale,” has replied the defendant, General Kasikila. It should be noted that in this case, Brigadier General Jean-Marie Kasikila is being prosecuted alongside three other defendants for the same offences, namely: Lieutenant-Colonels Jules Ligbongo and Albert Wasolela, and Major Douglas Dunia Lupungu. CPA/