The North Kivu governor, Leonard Kanyamuhanga, died in Bujumbura, Burundi, over the weekend after a short illness, the governing Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) announced on Tuesday. “The death of the governor is definitely going to affect our movement because of his long experience in the politics of North Kivu,” the RCD security chief Bizima Karaha told IRIN. Kanyamuhanga became governor in 1996 under the leadership of the-then Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL), and he was re- appointed by the RDC in 1998 after the break-up of the AFDL rebellion.
Meanwhile, Felix Kantintima, the younger brother of the South Kivu governor, Norbert Bashengezi Katintima, was shot dead on Sunday by suspected members of the Rwandan Interahamwe militia near Bukavu. Sources said they believed the intended target was the governor himself, who was reportedly hit in the back by two bullets.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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