Kinshasa has woken under water this Tuesday. Several streets and roads were flooded by water from the rain that has fallen on the city from the early hours of the morning until the early afternoon. You would say you are in Venice this morning in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A long rainy morning has disturbed the normal course of business in Kinshasa. This must challenge the provincial authority of Kinshasa, which should ask itself whether it really exists.
n Limete salongo, taxi-humans spontaneously emerged to sell their services. At the cost of two hundred Congolese francs, Eric 13 years, facilitates the crossing to the passengers who cannot get to their services otherwise than mounting on his back to avoid getting dirty, given the high level of waters. « I just moved in this neighborhood less than six months ago and have never seen such a flood of waters. The necessary provisions must be taken by the authorities before the worst happens to us, « said one man, paying the cost of the back-taxi which allowed him to cross the street to reach the bus stop.
Similar scenes occurred in other municipalities and districts of Kinshasa. In Kingabua, Mont-Ngafula, Masina, N’djili, Ngaliema, Kinshasa … several material damage was recorded. Some do not even know where they are going to sleep tonight as rainwater has invaded homes. « The rain has devided our street in two, an electric pole that had been implanted in it fell, breaking the pipe of the Regideso, » says an inhabitant of Mont-Ngafula. The main arteries were not spared. On the Boulevard du 30 Juin, avenue des Huileries, avenue des Poids lourds, the waters had risen up to half a meter high.
Several businesses have remained closed. Stalls in the central market of Kinshasa were empty until eleven o’clock, contrary to habits. This situation brings to the surface the question of allotment of the city and maintenance of the water pipes by the competent state services and their daily use by the populations. A meeting convened by the governor of the city of Kinshasa, André Kimbuta, will take place this Wednesday, January 8 with the mayors to assess the human and material damage caused by this rain.