Kinyandonyi
# Kinyandonyi

Kinyandonyi is a village in the Rutshuru Territory of the North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinyandonyi is situated 10 km east of the city of Kiwanja in Bukoma groupement, in the Bwisha Chiefdom and 85 km north of the capital of the province Goma. The region is inhabited by the Hunde people as well as some remaining autochthonous populations of African Pygmies, including the Twa people and the Mbuti people. In addition to the Hunde, Twa, and Mbuti, there are other ethnic groups, including the Nyanga, Lega, Kumu, Hutu and Tutsi.

## Economy

Agriculture is a growing source of income, as most of the population lives in abundance of poverty and lives in an infernal cycle of misery. Consequently, the Association of Agricultural Journalists of Congo (AJAC), a non-partisan organization for agriculture, distributes seeds for agricultural development, teaches technical skills relating to farming and livestock, and trains villagers in the region to save their money. In addition, the organization helps villagers to learn business management and supports them in making their projects more sustainable and secure.

## Security problems

The conflict has plagued the Kinyandonyi village since interethnic fighting erupted during the First and the Second Congo War. During the First and Second Congo Wars, the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL), supported by Rwanda, waged war in Zaire and systematically shelled numerous camps, committed massacres, forced the repatriation of some of the Hutu refugees back to Rwanda as well as fighting to oust Mobutu Sese Seko out of power. As a result, the Hutu refugees fled westward into more remote areas of Zaire, including Lubero, Kinyandonyi, Kaniola, Kigurwe, Tingi-Tingi, Wendji Secli, Ingende, Mbandaka, and other regions in eastern Zaire. From 2000 onwards, forces from the Coalition des Patriotes Résistants du Congo (PARECO), the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie (RCD), Mai-Mai and the Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP) all carried out rapes and killings and ‘insecurity, corruption and injustice increased’.

In April 2008, the clashes between the Congolese army of the 6th Integrated Brigade and the FDLR militiamen in the villages of Mugogo, Rugarama and Kinyandonyi resulted in six fatalities and 14 wounded.

In January 2020, eight people were killed, several were injured and three homes were set on fire in an attack by suspected FDLR (Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda) operatives in Kinyandonyi, in the chiefdom of Bwisha in the Rutshuru territory, North Kivu.

In April 2020, the FDLR conducted an armed attack in the Kinyandonyi village, resulting in one death and several injuries.

In November 2022, four people were killed by a bomb, and several others were severely wounded in the village of Kinyandonyi near the CEPAC church. Four members of the same family lost their lives in a rocket launched by the M23 rebels.

