Unlike the tense rhythm we observed in January 2025, life in Goma now moves at a hurried, seemingly restless pace, with people eager to get somewhere. On a wide, gently sloping street about three kilometres from the main DR Congo-Rwanda border crossing, La Corniche or Grande Barrière, motorists, cars, and pedestrians jostle past one another at startling speed, navigating a city that has been under the control of AFC/M23 rebels for a year. ALSO READ: ‘M23 is doing very well, we have to give them time’ – DR Congo traditional chief It was a hot Monday around midday when I spotted Clarisse and her friend by the roadside. The young women were taking a short breath before continuing their trek from the market. By their sides sat two old basins, each brimming with fresh tomatoes that glistened in the sun. ALSO READ: Bisimwa explains why rebels were forced to capture Uvira in lightning advance The women wiped sweat from their brows as they chewed on sticks of sugarcane, the faint aroma of ripe tomatoes mingling with the scents of street food and exhaust fumes. “Goma is peaceful. That’s all that matters now,” Clarisse said, her voice carrying a soft determination, after I introduced myself and asked about the current situation in the capital of North Kivu Province. ALSO READ: Rwanda's defensive measures to remain 'until FDLR threat is gone' Would they be open to an on-camera interview, I asked. The young women exchanged glances and – almost at the same time – burst into a chuckle. Afterwards, Clarisse shook her head. Around us, life continued at its relentless pace—children running by the roadside, buyers and sellers haggling over produce, and fast-moving drivers honking to assert passage. Despite the memories of past violence, the city’s pulse refused to slow. VIDEO: Nangaa on capture of Goma, FDLR and what's next Three hours later, we toured the city’s main port area along the shoreline beneath Mont Goma. This active lakefront port is the main landing point on Lake Kivu. The docks were busy with boats and ferries, primarily used to carry people, goods, and occasionally vehicles across the lake. Most of the ferries operate passenger and cargo routes to other lakeside cities such as Bukavu, to islands like Idjwi, and to nearby points along the lake. That afternoon, about 30 men, glistening with sweat, formed two lines, hauling heavy sacks of maize flour and rice into the belly of Emmanuel 2, one of the large passenger boats that runs regular routes between Goma and Bukavu. A deckhand showed us around the three decks and explained that the Emmanuel series boats are large passenger ferries; multi-story vessels capable of carrying more than 200 passengers per trip. ALSO READ: Nangaa rejects Tshisekedi's attempt at peace talks in Luanda “Loading takes time; we can carry up to 250 tons. We are now getting ready for a trip that will take around six hours to Bukavu. At night, the same trip takes about 18 hours since we are supposed to move slowly and arrive in the morning,” the deckhand said. A few minutes’ drive from the central port area, up toward the slopes and avenues near Mont Goma, lies Kituku Market, one of Goma’s major public markets, along the shores of Lake Kivu in the Kyeshero area. Like Birere market, a major commercial hub in Goma, Kituku is another bustling center of activity. Hundreds of stalls overflowed with fresh produce from North Kivu’s fertile farmlands, while scores of vendors spread their goods across open spaces. Even under a light drizzle, the market continuously hummed with the constant chatter of buyers and sellers. According to Arno Niyigaba, a city resident who is entering the tourism sector, the lakeside market serves as a major commercial hub and is closely connected to lake transport, thanks to its proximity to the port and the local fishing community. In the open spaces and inside wooden stalls lining the area, vendors sold a wide range of everyday goods; fresh produce, fish from the lake, grains, and other basic foodstuffs that supply much of the city’s daily needs. When AFC/M23 liberated Goma and much of North Kivu Province, Niyigaba explained, hundreds of internally displaced people returned to their homes, helping to revive the local economy. “The dollar had shot up to 3,000 francs, but now we get it at 2,500 or 2,200 francs,” he said. Overall, he stressed, security has also improved. ‘There is hope’ To put things in context, Niyigaba recalled a tragic boat accident, in October 2024, when more than 70 people died after an overcrowded boat—carrying around 100 passengers despite a 30-person capacity—capsized near Kituku port. The boat had been traveling from Minova, in South Kivu, and sank as it arrived on Goma’s shore on October 3, 2024. “What caused the accident?” he posed, and explained: “Here, merchandise is transported in boats, and the captains know their carrying capacity. But militia groups such as Wazalendo and FDLR would also force the captains to carry extra cargo. The captains were helpless, which is why boats often capsized. “But now, Wazalendo and FDLR are no longer here. Before a boat takes off, authorities always ensure it isn’t overloaded, so there won’t be accidents costing civilian lives.” Wazalendo – Swahili for patriots – is a brutal coalition of Congolese militia and self-defence groups mobilized by President Félix Tshisekedi four years ago to fight alongside the Congolese army coalition against the M23 rebel group. They teamed up with the Congolese army, and FDLR, a Kinshasa-backed terrorist group formed in mid-2000 – in Lubumbashi, DR Congo’s second-largest city – by remnants of the former government forces and militia that committed the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and other forces in Kinshasa’s vast military coalition that comprises the Burundian army. ALSO READ: What are the motivations of Burundi’s military intervention in South Kivu? Niyigaba emphasised that the new leaders in Goma “truly care about the safety and well-being of people.” A few meters away, Destin Luanda Kinyabuma, on duty at his mother’s shop, concurred with Niyigaba. “All is well here now,” the 21-year-old said. “We are thankful that people returned to their homes, and life has gradually returned to normal. In the past, food prices were very high. A kilo of potatoes used to cost 1,500 or 1,700 francs; now it goes for 1,000 francs. “We still pay taxes but the major difference is that we are no longer coerced to pay when business is slow. In the past, if you didn’t have money for tax, authorities would shut down your business. That is no longer the case.” ‘This is the good leadership we always wanted’ According to Jean-Paul Paluku Ngahangondi, the coordinator of the human rights group Convention pour le Respect des Droits Humains (CRDH), Goma remains largely peaceful because the city’s security is no longer controlled by “Kinshasa’s corrupt and oppressive forces.” Ngahangondi, a jurist and human rights defender whose work with CRDH centers on protecting vulnerable populations and advocating for fundamental rights and justice, added: “The current security forces [AFC/M23] do not oppress the citizens. People are seeing change and this is all they ever wanted, really. The change is real. This is the good leadership we always wanted here.” Early this January, news broke that a pair of twin mountain gorillas was born in eastern DR Congo’s Virunga National Park – a rare occurrence for the endangered primates. The community trackers who discovered a 22-year-old female mountain gorilla named Mafuko hugging her newborns, on January 3, said the mother and her baby sons were well and healthy. Over the past three decades, the presence of FDLR has had significant indirect negative impacts on gorillas in the park. The genocidal militia’s activities – ranging from poaching, illegal charcoal production, and armed conflict to attacks on park rangers – severely disrupted conservation efforts and accelerated habitat loss. A 2022 report released by Pole Institute – a non-governmental organization operating in DR Congo – showed that the economic empire of the genocidal militia was based on three pillars; the deforestation of Virunga National Park, poaching, and collection of royalties for agriculture as well as transport exploitation. If FDLR had still been in the area, Ngahangondi said, the baby gorillas would not have survived “since the militia which used to control the region would not have allowed conservationists to operate and monitor these gorillas.” At his hilltop fortress in the Chefferie de Bukumu, a 20 minutes’ drive north of Goma, in Nyiragongo Territory, Mwami Isaac Butsitsi Kahembe IV described the situation in his kingdom since the rebels took control, as peaceful. Asked specifically about life under AFC/M23 leadership, he explained: “You see, it's been just a year since M23 came here. But for what we are seeing, you know, you cannot do everything in one year. “With all the challenges that we had, M23 is really doing very good. But they can't do it in one year. We have to give them time. Yeah, they are doing good, actually.” ‘Tshisekedi regime chose to starve the people by closing banks’ Yet challenges remain. Members of the business community in Quartier Les Volcans, Goma’s upscale administrative and residential hub renowned as one of the city’s most beautiful and secure areas, said that normal life is far from being fully restored. They explained that ever since Goma was liberated, it has been facing a financial crisis caused by Kinshasa’s paralysis of the banking system. Frozen bank accounts are halting economic activity, threatening livelihoods, and destabilising the local economy and business operations. With millions of dollars frozen in inaccessible accounts, businesses are experiencing cash flow shortages, making it difficult to pay suppliers and cover operational expenses. As a result, businesses have been forced to scale back production, or temporarily close, causing layoffs and reducing household incomes. Angel Muhigirwa, a clothing vendor along Avenue des Messagers, said life was extremely difficult before the fighting ended in January 2025. “Now, at least things are gradually improving,” she said. “There is hope.” But Muhigirwa, a former account holder at the now-closed Equity Bank, decried the fact that she cannot access her money, highlighting an ongoing challenge facing residents. In the city, only two banks – Caisse d’Épargne du Congo (CADECO) and ACCES Bank – reopened, as part of efforts to revive economic activity though access remains limited and many residents still face challenges managing accounts and transactions. All other banks, including Ecobank, Rawbank, Banque of Africa (BOA), and Fina Bank, remain closed. Ngahangondi emphasised: “The biggest challenge, so far, has been the banks that were shut down by the Kinshasa regime which has made business life so difficult. “Even the two banks trying to operate are experiencing challenges because people’s money is held up in other banks. The biggest problem for us here now is that people cannot access their money!” Ngahangondi said he has up to $30 million frozen in Equity Bank. “What we are doing as civil society is pressuring the Kinshasa regime to reopen these banks so that people can access their money, which is a basic human right!” Bertrand Bisimwa, the AFC/M23 deputy coordinator, acknowledged the challenges “inherited from the Tshisekedi regime, which chose to starve the people by closing banks” and by shutting all routes connecting rebel-controlled areas to the rest of the country, effectively “starving the population.” Bisimwa said: “When he [Tshisekedi] closes banks, what is he actually doing? He is penalising the people, the population of this region, because these are the citizens who have bank accounts, who have their money in the bank and can no longer access their funds. “Mr. Tshisekedi staged a financial hold-up against the population. He has effectively robbed the banks in the east of the country, as our information indicates that there is no trace of the population’s money in these accounts.” Despite everything, Bisimwa said, they are gradually finding solutions. Regarding imports, he said, not all African countries “can accept Mr. Tshisekedi’s policy” and countries, especially those in East Africa, allowed food supplies to continue. Secondly, he explained, AFC/M23 assisted in returning internally displaced people in Goma and its surrounding areas to their homes. “Today, they are the ones actively producing and sustaining their communities. For example, before we entered the city of Goma, a bag of potatoes cost $130. Today, it costs only $25.” He said that the issue of reopening banking operations was raised during the Doha peace talks “as a matter of priority, in what we called confidence-building measures,” but Kinshasa is yet to respond positively.
