Post date: Jun 20, 2013 3:32:30 PM
The Kuluna are an infamous gang of youth in Kinshasa who are known for assaulting and mugging people in the city. Despite the panic among residents, local police have so far been unsuccessful in stopping the group. These criminals along with a high number of youth who are living in the streets of Kinshasa are contributing to a rising crime rate in the capital
KINSHASA, DR CONGO (REUTERS) - Once the leafy art-deco jewel of the Belgian Congo and later the buzzing cultural heart of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko's Zaire, Kinshasa has become a playground for violent gangs sowing fear and transforming parts of the city into "no-go" zones.
The well-organized and ruthless "kuluna", whose name derives from the Portuguese for infantry column, prey on residents with machetes, stones or iron bars under the noses of the city's corrupt and ineffectual police, activists say.Residents in the city say they now live in fear of this gang.
"Authorities have got to start taking the gang problem seriously, because they have started stealing from us, stealing the little that we make from our small businesses. Even if criminals are robbing and killing, we never see the police come here to intervene, despite the fact that there is a police station nearby. The police only come after they (criminals) have left," said street vendor, Harriet Senga.
Youth poverty and unemployment are fuelling criminality in Congo's teeming capital, threatening government efforts to overhaul the decrepit city and attract investment.
Authorities recognise urgent action is needed to stop gang violence in the city of 10 million spiralling out of control.
According to the United Nations, Kinshasa is the fastest growing city in Africa, expected to hit 12.7 million people by 2020.
"It's now or never to tackle this. Everyone needs to get together and reflect on how we stop it. If not, in five years we're going to have problems in our society that are unmanageable," said Kinshasa police chief General Jean de Dieu Oleko.
Turmoil in Democratic Republic of Congo, where millions died in successive civil wars, has been keenly felt in the capital.
The city was devastated by pillaging in the dying days of former president Mobutu's regime and swamped by an influx of people fleeing fighting.
Thousands of child soldiers streamed in behind president Joseph Kabila's father when he seized power in 1997.
More than half of Kinshasa's population is under 18, most uneducated or schooled but with no prospect of work.
At least 20,000 children live on the dusty streets, and 350 more join each month, according to REEJER, an organization working with vulnerable young people.
Known as "shegues", the street children have often fled abuse and poverty at home, or been driven out by accusations of witchcraft.
According to Remy Mafu, head of REEJER, with adults neglecting their children to scrape a living, the breakdown of family means ever more young Congolese are slipping towards drugs, alcohol and criminality.
"The Kulunas are different from street children. These are young people who belong to families, who live with their families at home, but who have chosen to say; no one understands us, no one wants to do anything with us and now we are going to show society that we exist, by doing foolish things," he said.
"I am a yankee, I sleep in the streets, and when the police see me, they treat me like Kuluna. When the police arrests us, they often mistake us for criminals, thinking that they have done a good job by arresting Kulunas. They parade us in the streets so that people can see us, but we are far from being Kulunas, said street kid 'DJ Blanco', an aspiring musician.
Most people in Kinshasa see the security forces as part of the problem. Police ignore gangs of youths attacking cars in broad daylight and focus on extorting bribes from motorists, many residents say.
Joachim Ambabo, a street kid turned social worker, says the Congo's corrupt state and political elite fuels the delinquency.
"We are told that a child learns by imitation, and in a country where there is total impunity, how are children supposed to behave? They will also grow up acting the same way. So I think that in order to fight against this plague, we need to start by dealing with the Kulunas who wear ties, meaning the politicians, they are the ones who are guilty. They will pass on the message, because children learn by imitating what they see. When they (politicians) will be punished according to our laws, then the small Kulunas will also disappear. I think that those on top must influence the ones at the bottom," he said.
Though the government has vowed to tackle graft, high-profile arrests are rare.Congo ranked 160 of 176 nations in Transparency International's 2012 Corruption Perception Index.
The almost total absence of social services hinders attempts to improve the situation, said Alessandra Dentice, head of governance for child protection inCongo at UNICEF.
"Lots of efforts are being made by UNICEF and other child protection agencies. But as I was saying earlier, it's all drops in the ocean, because structural problems remain," she said.
REEJER's Mafu says the only way to solve the problem is by involving local organizations, churches and the population, adding that if nothing is done,Kinshasa will become one of Africa's most hostile cities.