Rumours on the death of Magloire Paluku

According to several local sources in North Kivu, journalist and former Union pour la Nation Congolaise (UNC) member, Magloire Paluku, was assassinated on Wednesday, evening, 10th December 2025, in front of his house in Goma. Reports suggest he was shot with a pistol fitted with a silencer as he returned home, in what appears to be a targeted killing linked to internal tensions within the M23/AFC movement.

Paluku, once known as a media figure and political activist, had a long and controversial trajectory at the intersection of Congolese politics and armed movements. Initially based in Kinshasa at the beginning of the RDF–M23 war in November 2021, the highly ambitious Paluku was actively seeking a position in President Tshisekedi’s government. Despite multiple attempts, the appointment he hoped for never materialised. 

After this prolonged wait, Paluku returned to Goma, where he initially presented himself as a defender of the Congolese population and a vocal critic of Criminal Paul Kagame’s invasion of DRC. However, to the surprise of many who had seen him in that light, he was later recruited into the M23/AFC by his longtime friend Corneille Nangaa, the current psuedo political leader of M23 - AFC movement. According to sources within RDF-M23/AFC, Paluku was attracted by promises of a role within the movement’s political hierarchy. As we all know, it is far easier to convince a greedy and ambitious person than someone guided by ideological principles.

After formally joining RDF–M23 in May 2025, Paluku was sent for a political cadre training course in Tshanzu, a sign that he was being groomed for a more prominent political function within the structure. His problems, however, begun when Nangaa proposed his name for the post of Deputy Governor of North Kivu under the RDF-M23/AFC administration of areas under their control.

According to these sources, Nangaa wanted someone highly educated, politically articulate and linguistically versatile in that role. Paluku, who spoke major Congolese languages and had media experience, was seen as an ideal candidate to compensate for the limitations of the appointed governor, Colonel Joseph Bahati Musanga, selected by self-proclaimed Major General Sultan Makenga. Colonel Bahati has limited formal education and does not speak Lingala or French, both key national languages in the DRC. For Nangaa, placing Paluku as deputy governor would help mask or offset these communication weaknesses at the leadership level in the office of North Kivu governorship.

However, this suggestion collided with Sultan Makenga’s own preferences. According to the same sources, Sultan Makenga overruled Corneille Nangaa’s proposal and instead ordered the appointment of Willy Manzi, a 100% Rwandan national and a nephew to ICC-convicted warlord Bosco Ntaganda, known as the “Terminator”. Manzi is known as one of the most ruthless and toxic figures within M23, he share many Criminal traits with his uncle, Bosco Ntaganda.

The rejection of his candidacy is said to have left Magloire Paluku deeply disgruntled. In a highly militarised, secretive and internally violent organisation like RDF-M23, open dissatisfaction is often perceived as disloyalty and a potential threat. Being visibly frustrated or challenging internal decisions in such structures can be extremely dangerous. All sources notes that his resentment and perceived loss of favour within the hierarchy section led by Maj Gen Sultan Makenga ultimately led to a death sentence issued against him. On the evening of Wednesday, 10th December 2025, as he returned to his residence in Goma, Paluku was shot dead at close range with a pistol equipped with a silencer. Sources with knowledge of M23’s internal security apparatus attribute the killing directly to an order from Makenga, acting on intelligence supplied to him by notorious Willy Manzi. This ruthless assassination has been interpreted as an internal settling of scores aimed at eliminating a now-inconvenient insider.

Paluku’s alleged involvement with M23/AFC is not an isolated episode in his biography. According to those familiar with his career, he had a long history of alignment, at different periods, with Criminal Paul Kagame's war mineral projects in the DRC. During the AFDL war led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila, he supported the RDF–AFDL offensive, working as a media animator during the military campaign up to Kinshasa. Each time a city fell, he would reportedly appear on radio to mobilise the population on behalf of the RDF-AFDL. When Laurent-Désiré Kabila became president, Paluku was rewarded with a position attached to the presidential press unit.

Later, when the RDF–RCD project began, he moved closer to this movement through Nande networks. With the emergence of the RDF-CNDP, led by General Laurent Nkunda, Paluku once again aligned himself with the new project led by a personal friend, Gen Laurent Nkunda, maintaining proximity to Nkunda’s circle. In contrast to those earlier episodes, however, his latest involvement in the RDF–M23/AFC structure appears to have ended in tragedy. The intricate power struggles, rivalries, competing loyalties and deep intrigues within RDF-M23/AFC, culminated in a decision to eliminate him.

Sources close to the movement point that the order to brutally assassinate Paluku was sanctioned by Maj Gen Sultan Makenga, based on information provided by Willy Manzi, the nephew of Bosco Ntaganda. During his trial before the International Criminal Court, Bosco Ntaganda himself repeatedly insisted that he was not Congolese but Rwandan, born in 1973 in Kinigi, Rwanda. This family connection is seen by some observers as another indication of RDF imprint on the M23 project and its inner workings.

For many in Goma and beyond, the reported assassination of Magloire Paluku is being read as a cautionary tale about the dangers of getting entangled in armed political projects driven by opaque agendas and external interests. A man who once presented himself as a defender of the Congolese population, then moved into the orbit of Criminal PaulKagame’s mineral wars, has met the same fate that has befallen many others in the history of Criminal Paul Kagame’s mondus operandi, silenced when he/she ceases to be useful, or when his ambition clashed with those more powerful than you.

Over 400 killed ,20,000 displaced in Uvira

After Uvira, the South Kivu provincial government has temporarily relocated to the town of Baraka in Fizi. The first official statement from the South Kivu provincial government was issued from Baraka, in the Fizi territory.

According to this statement, 413 people, including women and children, were killed in Katogota, in the Uvira territory. The government denounces serious human rights violations and ceasefire violations, while confirming the presence of Rwandan soldiers, AFC/M23 elements, and mercenaries in the Uvira region.

Faced with the intensification of fighting, the South Kivu provincial authorities fled and retreated to Baraka, located about 100 kilometers from Uvira, along National Route 5.

More than 200,000 internally displaced persons have been registered.

South kivu administration offices transfered to Baraka in fizi

 

Baraka-Fizi is the new provincial capital of South Kivu province, following the fall of Uvira on December 10th.

In a statement from the governor's office, denouncing what it calls a "blatant violation of the ceasefire" signed in the aforementioned city, the governor accuses the rebels of a "massacre."

M23 confirmms the death of Paluku

Magloire Paluku, a Congolese journalist and former member of the AFC/M23, was shot dead on Wednesday in the streets of Goma, within the M23 movement .

Magloire Paluku Kavunga, 58, born on December 12, 1966, in Butembo, was a well-known cultural figure in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. A journalist, writer, poet, musician, comedian, and radio host, he was also the founder of Radio Kivu 1, an influential media outlet in the region. A close associate of Corneille Nangaa, he had served as a cultural and artistic advisor at the Congolese Ministry of Culture before joining the AFC/M23 after working as the ministry's chief of staff.

In July 2024, Magloire Paluku was sentenced to death in the trial against Corneille Nangaa and 24 other co-defendants before the Gombe Military Court. They were prosecuted for war crimes, treason, and participation in an insurrection in the east of the country. His name appeared on the list of 25 defendants, alongside, notably, the former president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), Corneille Nangaa, and several officers of the AFC/M23. The exact circumstances of the fatal shooting have not yet been clarified.

Many are spreading a rumour that he was eliminated by the M23 themselves,but according to a one on one talk I had with a top member in M23,he revealed that ,he was eliminated by the enemies of peace.he lamented that they have been targeting them but it will not destroy their morale in restoring peace in eastern DRC,he said. "Paluku Magloire is no more. But he died a free man.

No one will forget his poems, full of wisdom and intelligence. He was the bridge between the Kinyarwanda-speaking community and the Nande people.

First, they killed Castro Elise Mberabagabo—we were still only in Kitchanga. Now, they're taking Magloire Paluku. They think they can weaken us, but they don't realize that he leaves behind millions of other Paluku.

Rest in peace, Papa. I love you, and I will love you forever."

M23 officers in uvira

 

The first images of the M23's capture of Uvira are starting to circulate.

In this photo, Willy Ngoma, military spokesperson for this politico-military platform, poses in front of Uvira's town hall with Colonel Alfred Majivuno (on the right), an intelligence officer within the AFC/M23 army.

Brigadier General CIVIRI arrested as government denies the truth that Uvira has been captured.

According to local leaders interviewed on site, they still claim that the city is under the joint control of the FARDC and Wazalendo, supported by their Burundian ally, with no confirmed presence of the M23 rebels. The provincial governor, Jean JacquesPurusi, has formally denied rumors of the rebels taking Uvira.

 Brigadier General Amuli Civiri, recently appointed head of operations and intelligence for the 33rd Military Region, has been arrested since yesterday. According to our sources, this disciplinary measure follows "poorly given orders" to the #FARDC and #Wazalendo.

His recent appointment to replace General Olivier Gasita, who was challenged by the population and the Wazalendo movement three months ago, was officially intended to strengthen the effectiveness of the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) in the East, particularly in the areas of Uvira, Fizi, and Mwenga.

However, his alleged arrest is accompanied by very serious accusations. He is a former officer of the RCD-Goma (Rally for Culture and Democracy in Goma), the CNDP (National Congress for Democracy and Progress), and the M23 (Movement for the Liberation of Congo), like General Gasita before him. General Civiri is accused of "playing into the enemy's hands," with a supposed clear intention to hand over the strategic city of Uvira to the M23 rebels, who are supported by Rwanda.

Several sources accuse him of ordering the withdrawal of FARDC troops without a fight from certain localities in the Uvira territory, and of depriving the Wazalendo of logistical support (weapons, ammunition, food). They draw a disturbing parallel with the past captures of Goma and Bukavu, suggesting a similar scenario of orchestrated surrender.

Sentences Reduced for Officers Accused of Abandoning Goma to the M23

 

The High Military Court has delivered its verdict in the highly anticipated case of the abandonment of Goma to the AFC/M23 rebels in January 2025. Four high-ranking officers of the FARDC and the Congolese National Police were found guilty, but received significantly reduced sentences compared to the prosecution's requests.

Generals Dany Yangba Tene and Papy Lupembe Mobenzo, as well as Divisional Commissioners Eddy Léonard Mukuna Ntumba and Jean Romuald Ekuka Lipopo, former military governor of North Kivu, were convicted of cowardice in the face of the enemy, violation of orders, and loss of military equipment during the fall of Goma.

Despite the seriousness of the crimes, the court granted significant mitigating circumstances, reducing the sentences to:

• 36 months in prison for Ekuka Lipopo;

• 24 months for Mukuna Ntumba;

• 12 months for Yangba Tene and Lupembe Mobenzo.

They will also have to pay a collective fine of 2.8 million Congolese francs.

The case against the fifth defendant, Major General Alengbia Nzetetessya, who died in April 2025, was dismissed.

The prosecution had requested sentences ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment. The officers claimed to have acted on orders, citing a "strategic withdrawal" ordered by the Chief of the General Staff.

The verdict, considered particularly lenient by several military and political observers, raises new questions about the chain of command and responsibility for the loss of Goma.