DRC: Rastafarians call for peace and African unity

Kinshasa, May 19^th, 2025 (CPA) – Congolese Rastafari artists have launched an appeal in a song calling for peace to return to the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and urging Africans to unite in order to put an end to the conflicts that are undermining the continent, according to a video viewed by ACP on Monday.  ‘We want peace to return to the East, we want peace in Congo. That’s why we, the Rastafarians, have sung with one voice to denounce the recurring killings, the suffering of the people of Goma and the complicit silence of certain leaders’, said Mabanza Ngoma Yambingi, a Congolese Rastafarian. The song, with its pan-African and militant overtones, also calls for respect for the ideals of historical figures such as Simon Kimbangu, Patrice Lumumba and Thomas Sankara.  ‘It is not through violence or war that we will develop Africa, but through unity, solidarity and dialogue’, sings the group of Rastafarians. Denouncing the massacres suffered by the populations of the east of the country, these “Rastafaris” call for ‘no more deaths in the Congo’, which for them is a watchword, a cry from the heart in the face of what they describe as ignored genocide. In this musical plea, the Rastas deplore the division, betrayal and indifference that plague the continent. ‘Enough, enough, no more tears’, they insist, calling on the authorities and people of conscience to lay down their arms. Through their message, the artists affirm their attachment to their country, the Congo of Kimbangu, Lumumba and everyone else, while calling on the peoples of Africa to cultivate peace in order to build a stable future in the Great Lakes region.