Saturday evacuation of a pirate market set up in the former Mbenseke Mfuti cemetery in Kinshasa

Kinshasa, July 14^th, 2025 (CPA) . – The evacuation of a pirate market set up in the former Mbenseke Mfuti cemetery in Mont-Ngafula, a commune in western Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, has been announced for Saturday, in anticipation of the National Day of the Dead celebrated on  August 1^st, according to administrative sources on Monday. « We announce that the evacuation of the pirate market set up in the former Mbenseke Mfuti cemetery in the Mitendi district of Mont-Ngafula will take place on Saturday, July 19^th, 2025. This decision follows the desecration of graves and the transformation of the resting places into kiosks and shops that have been set up in this cemetery, » declared Adèle Shimba, head of the Mitendi district. According to Ms. Shimba, this decision will be implemented to support the « Balabala eza Wenze te  » (The street is not a market) launched by the Governor of the city of Kinshasa. She said that the evacuation of this illegal trading site will take place on a date when the local authorities of Mitendi expect to show their commitment to enhancing their neighborhood and preserving collective memory. ‘With a lot of effort, we are determined to restore the sacred nature of the site and enable families to find the graves of their loved ones,’ she said. Ms Shimba said that, as a result of this illegal market, which has been in existence for several years, many families have difficulty finding the graves of their deceased loved ones during the Day of the Dead, celebrated on August 1^st each year. ‘We have made all the local vendors aware of the need to respect the dead and preserve the memory of the deceased,’ she concluded.