DRC: ‘Afrika Amkeni’ festival to awaken the patriotic spirit of the Congolese people

Kinshasa, June 24^th, 2024 (CPA) – Awakening the patriotic soul of the Congolese people has been identified as the key objective of the first edition of a festival called ‘Afrika Amkeni’ (Africans, wake up), scheduled from June 28^th to 30^th in Kinshasa and Butembo, two provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the CPA learnt on Tuesday from the organiser. ‘The Amkeni festival is one of the flagship projects of the Centre Culturel Afrika Amkeni (Ccaa), which we decided to launch in order to awaken the patriotic spirit of our people,’ said Korino Sandjomb, coordinator of the “Afrika Amkeni” festival. According to Sandjomb, this first edition of the festival is also about awakening the patriotic soul, and aims to mobilize the country’s artists in the cause of peace, unity and social cohesion. The theme of the festival is: ‘Promoting patriotic awakening, instilling a deep sense of pride in being Congolese, celebrating the country’s unique contributions to Africa and the world. For this special occasion, we have drawn on a number of disciplines to give this impetus, including the visual arts, music, drama and poetry,’ he said. Korino Sandjomb also said that the ‘Afrika Amkeni’ festival was a significant contribution to the country’s progress. ‘The various artists who applied for this festival responded to a call for applications launched from June 3^rd to June 18^th, 2025. We’re currently in the final stages of counting the applications, and we’re going to use these three days of celebration to unveil the big winners, who will benefit from support (…), to become the major players who will perpetuate what we call the awakening of the patriotic soul of a people’, he said. In the city and province of Kinshasa, this cultural event will take place at the ‘Afrika Amkeni Cultural Centre’ in the municipality of Kintambo (north-west of Kinshasa) and in Butembo (province of North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo), in a multi-purpose hall. ACP/