President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi launched this Wednesday, August 2 in Kinshasa, the commemoration of the Congolese genocide. The Congolese Head of State thus wanted to pay tribute to all the Congolese killed unjustly for economic gains and to appeal to the general mobilization against the aggression of the DRC by foreign powers, recalls the Presidency.
He spoke after several moving testimonies from some victims.
“It is therefore with great emotion and sorrow, but also determination and resilience, by the existential adversity imposed on us, that I speak out, out of duty and responsibility, in my capacity as guarantor of the Nation, to officially launch the commemoration of the Congolese genocide (GENOCOS), in memory of the millions of Congolese men and women, victims in recent decades of acts of barbarism and indescribable cruelty”, explained Felix Tshisekedi.
According to him, this cruelty is “orchestrated by certain powers and their agents with no other motivation than their obsession to illegally exploit our natural resources against our interests”.
For President Tshisekedi, the date of August 2 represents a special day for the collective memory as a nation and people of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“This August 2 of the year 2023 is more so. It already reminds us of another day, no less symbolic, January 4, dedicated to our martyrs of independence,” recalled Mr. Tshisekedi.
Understanding GENOCOS
The Congolese Genocide Memorial Day (CENOCOS) is an annual event presented by the organizers as a gesture of respect to pay tribute to all those who lost their lives in the long history of conflicts in the DRC.
GENOCOST is an initiative of the Congolese Action Youth Platform (CAYP) [ Ndlr : la plateforme d’actions de jeunes Congolais], set up for the recognition of the Genocide against the population of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This campaign aims, the official recognition of the date of August 02 as a day of commemoration in memory of all those who have been lost in our long history of violence in Congo.
GENOCOST means “genocide for economic gain”. It’s a combination of Genocide and cost, organizers say. They claim to have chosen this term to explain the economic nature of the genocide in the DRC.