A political editor and his wife were shot and killed overnight on Thursday in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in what appeared to be a political assassination amid a wave of intimidation of journalists.
Franck Kangundu, political chief of the daily newspaper La Reference Plus, and his wife, Helene Paka, were shot down at point-blank range by armed masked men in their home in Limete district.
The deaths came against a background of ongoing attacks and threats against journalists as the country prepares for an election next June, the first free vote in 40 years in the vast Central African nation ravaged by years of civil war and lawlessness.
Fellow journalists immediately said they will hold a protest march to remind the state of its duty towards journalists’ safety.
”We have learned of the murder of journalist Franck Kangundu and his wife by armed men in their home at 2am,” said Tshivis Tshivuadi, secretary general of a press freedom group, Journalists in Danger.
A young man who tried to alert neighbours was hospitalised with a serious gunshot wound.
Witnesses told of a brief altercation between four armed men and the couple, who had returned home from a funeral wake.
For the past 10 years, Kangundu, also known as Ngyke, was political editor of La Reference Plus, a Kinshasa paper close to the government.
The motive was not immediately clear, but Journalists in Danger rejected any notion it had been a mere common crime. No items of value had been stolen, it said.
Witnesses were quoted by the organisation as saying the killers had themselves told Kangundu they had been ”sent to kill him”.
Violent crime has risen dramatically over recent months in Kinshasa, with ever more frequent armed attacks by soldiers or what witnesses have called ”men in uniform”.
Nine media unions summoned an emergency session and strongly condemned the latest killings, demanding an independent enquiry.
They said in a statement they will hold a protest demonstration in the capital next Monday in the form of a ”peaceful silent march to stress … the state’s obligation towards the safety of journalists, particularly in the pre-election period”.
They called for ”the setting-up of a mixed independent commission of enquiry comprised of government investigators, the United Nations mission in DRC, human rights groups and professional representatives”.
An independent self-regulating media organisation called l’Observatoire des Medias Congolais called on DRC journalists to continue ”to carry out their profession with courage and responsibility”.
Andre Ipakala Abeiye, editor of La Reference Plus, said he was unaware of any articles recently penned by Kangundu that might have prompted negative responses.
Journalists in Danger condemned frequent harassment and intimidation of DRC journalists, including the disappearance since last week of Jean-Marie Kanku, the editor and publisher of the newspaper L’Alerte, which is close to the political opposition .
The NGO claims the victim is being held at a secret location of the state security services, who deny all knowledge of this. — Sapa-AFP