In rebel-controlled eastern DRC, political coverage banned, journalist Claude Kashonga suspended 

Kinshasa, August 25, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on rebel authorities controlling part of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to lift the restrictions that prohibit media outlets in South Kivu province from broadcasting or publishing political content. Local regulatory authorities should also reverse their decision to suspend a Bukavu FM political program and its host, Claude Kashonga. 

On August 19, Patrick Busu Bwa Ngwi Nshombo, the governor appointed for South Kivu by the M23 and Congo River Alliance (AFC) rebels, summoned media executives operating in the city of Bukavu to his office and warned of harsh sanctions if they failed to comply with a series of new conditions, according to a media report and four local journalists who spoke to the CPJ after attending the meeting. The conditions included indefinite bans on broadcasting political debates and on covering news about the DRC government, requirements to cover AFC/M23 activities and air their information for free, and a mandate to focus broadcasts on peace, the environment, education, health, and development. 

“The rebel authorities’ censorship of political and conflict coverage in South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo illustrate an intensifying and persistent crackdown on press freedom, in a region where journalists already work under pressure from death threats and arrests,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo. “The M23/AFC coalition must rescind its unjust decisions and restore the local population’s access to diverse reporting and commentary on current affairs.”

“The M23 governor began by lamenting what he described as a lack of media coverage regarding M23’s activities,” a local journalist who attended the meeting told CPJ under condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisal, adding that Busu warned local media outlets against criticizing the rebels or relaying news from the DRC government.

“He questioned whether our media outlets were serving Kinshasa, reminding us that, as governor, he could decide to shut them down at any moment without facing opposition,” the journalist said. “Busu Bwa Ngwi did not mince his words: He would not tolerate hearing criticism or insults directed at his movement.”

At the meeting, Busu also appointed Emmanuel Bafa Mbilizi as coordinator of the Superior Council for Audiovisual and Communication (CSAC), the local media regulatory body, according to the journalists who spoke with CPJ.

On August 22, Bafa and Darius Kitoka, local president of the National Press Union of the Congo (UNPC), which also serves as a self-regulatory body for its members, suspended Bukavu FM’s political program, “Samedi Miracle,” for 30 days and Kashonga for 45 days, according to a decision reviewed by the CPJ. During the August 19 meeting, Kashonga had faced harsh criticism for condemning the illegal occupation of private homes by M23/AFC rebels and the eviction of state officials to house their own senior members.

Kashonga told CPJ that his guest on the August 15 broadcast had criticized the M23 rebel administration and that he had done his best to steer the conversation in a different direction. On August 17, he was summoned by Busu, who was outraged by the broadcast and, on August 22, he received a suspension notice from the UNPC and the CSAC without having been given a chance to explain himself.

When CPJ contacted Kitoka of the UNPC for comment on Kashonga’s suspension, he said, “I am sanctioning him to help him,” but declined to comment further. CPJ was unable to contact Bafa, and CPJ’s calls and messages to Busu went unanswered. 

In April 2024, the national CSAC under the DRC government banned all Congolese media outlets from broadcasting news regarding the M23 rebels, who are backed by the Rwandan army.