KINSHASA, Dem. Rep. Congo, January 1998 — More reports of killings in the Gisenyi region of north-west Rwanda and across the border in the Goma region of the Democratic Republic of Congo continue to make the area extremely unsettled. Security forces cannot be everywhere at once, and many of the killings take place at night. Some are purely motivated by robbery while others seem to be a continuation of the ethnic violence this region has suffered since 1994.

Recently-appointed UBS Translation Consultant, Jean-Claude Loba-Mkole, had to take time off to comfort his wife’s family and mourn with them the death of his father-in-law, who, along with several local officials, was killed by unidentified assailants in Goma on Christmas Day, 1997.

The Rev Nlandu Mukoko, General Secretary of the Bible Society here, said that the situation was far from normal in Kinshasa itself. Armed gangs, probably from the disbanded Zaïrean army, continue to launch looting attacks especially in suburban areas at night, robbing and killing, although the security forces were attempting to eradicate these dissidents.

On the whole, he said, there had been some improvement, but the stability both in civil order and economics had failed to match expectations. In so far as Bible work was concerned, many people could still not afford to buy Bibles. “Part of the Bible Society’s aim is to provide the Scriptures at a price people can afford,” he said.

“This is very much the focus of our planning as we move into 1998. The demand for Scriptures does not go down, but unless we successfully address these problems, our ability to meet the demands will decrease.”

Mr Nlandu pointed to new relationships with local churches through which more support for the Bible Society would come. The recent links established between the 7 million-strong Kimbanguiste Church (the church held a Bible Week from December 8-12, 1997) have come after many years of non-cooperation. Mr Nlandu hoped that more churches would become involved in Bible work, helping to make the Scriptures available locally at minimal cost, if not free, to those who did not have the means to purchase them. (WR 329/24 - 3.98)