The Pamoja kwa Amani Coalition expresses its profound indignation and deep concern over the escalating economic oppression imposed on civilian populations by the AFC-M23 rebel movement in the areas under its de facto administration.
Since the start of the aggression, the cities of Bukavu and Goma, along with their surrounding areas, have experienced a complete breakdown of their economies:
- The closure of banking institutions, depriving citizens of access to their own savings;
- Mass unemployment resulting from the halt of activities by businesses and NGOs;
- The destruction of supply chains, plunging families into extreme poverty.
Pamoja kwa Amani notes that, despite this dire situation, the Rwanda-backed AFC-M23 has established a system of forced tax collection, particularly for car insurance.
Pamoja kwa Amani denounces:
• The monopoly granted to the Rwandan company IMPERIAL Assur, in flagrant violation of the laws of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC);
• The armed nature of the collections: agents, often foreigners, demand payment “at gunpoint,” transforming an administrative procedure into an act of extortion.
Pamoja kwa Amani observes that this tax pressure is not accompanied by any public services in return. Its sole purpose is to finance the war effort of the aggressors while systematically impoverishing Congolese citizens. It is a continuation of war by financial means, orchestrated to break the resilience of the traumatized populations of Kivu.
Faced with this economic asphyxiation and colonization, Pamoja kwa Amani:
(i) Demands the immediate cessation of all fiscal and para-fiscal harassment imposed on civilian populations already suffocated by war;
(ii) Denounces the illegality of any transaction imposed for the benefit of foreign companies not accredited under the DRC insurance code;
(iii) Calls on the international community to sanction the perpetrators of this “economic asphyxiation,” which constitutes a crime against civilian populations;
(iv) Makes a passionate appeal to the people of Bukavu, Goma, and the occupied areas for a total and systematic boycott of these illegal taxes and the insurance imposed by Imperial Assur;
(v) Urges every citizen to engage in collective non-violent resistance: refusing to finance one’s own oppression is an act of patriotism. Every franc paid to these illegitimate structures is another bullet against the sovereignty of the DRC. If no one pays, the extortion system will collapse.
Pamoja kwa Amani stands alongside the people to say NO to fiscal terrorism and YES to Congolese dignity. Peace is not negotiated through racketeering—it is built through justice.