Long queues stretch in front of banks and other public buildings in DR Congo’s largest eastern city Goma, where Rwanda-backed M23 fighters have taken control, leaving residents in disarray.
More than a week after the battle for the North Kivu provincial capital, the M23 on Wednesday appointed people to public positions.
This has left Goma with two officials for many public posts — two mayors, two governors — which locals said has created confusion.
“We don’t know who is doing what, if you have a problem what authority do you go see?” asked Prince, who is trying in vain to obtain a travel document.
The M23 administration is still in its embryonic stages and struggling to respond to daily problems in the war-wounded city.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s border with Rwanda has now reopened and officials in civilian clothing are stamping passports, AFP journalists saw.
But there is no service producing identity or travel documents.
“How will children being born get birth certificates if the situation continues?” Pelagie Masika, who lives in the Majengo neighbourhood, asked.
Some students have started to return to classes, although primary and secondary schools remained shut.
“We no longer get our salary and we don’t know if we will work again or not,” said Desange, a civil servant who declined to give their full name.
The city is suffering cash shortages and people going to ATMs often leave empty-handed.
“Right now, it’s hard to get (Congolese) francs at the bank,” entrepreneur Dieudonne Karibu said.
Those looking to change dollars into the local currency also face poor exchange rates, the businessman added.
Bank branches cannot open in areas controlled by anti-government armed groups without the permission of the central bank based in the Congolese capital Kinshasa.
M23 leaders announced Thursday a series of measures to be rolled out in the city, including fixing the exchange rate, the imminent reopening of schools and the recruitment of police officers.
– ‘Drive without fear’-
On Goma’s normally chaotic roads, the traffic has calmed down and drivers stop at red lights.
Even M23 fighters in armoured pickup trucks pause at pedestrian crossings.
Police responsible for regulating traffic flows but better known for bribing drivers have fled — their distinctive yellow helmets have disappeared from sight.
Sosthene Banyene, who studies at the Goma Higher Institute of Commerce, said police would often “invent offences”.
“(But) now I can drive without fear,” the student said.
The presence of the M23 in the city’s streets appears to be enough to maintain control despite the absence of normal law enforcement.
“I have seen a restoration of order, without the presence of the police,” said humanitarian worker Jean de Dieu Kanze.
Roads that were once known to be dangerous are safer to travel on.
A passing taxi driver said the criminals have suddenly “become good Christians”.
But their shadow still hangs over Goma, especially after a mass jail break in the wake of the M23’s assault on the city.
The fugitives “are scattered throughout our neighbourhoods”, said Gloria Kassay, who lives near the prison, which has been reduced to ashes.
At a roundabout in central Goma, an M23 officer held an impromptu meeting as dozens of residents watched.
Megaphone in hand, he called on the families of soldiers to denounce those who have not laid down their arms.
“We did not come to hunt down people, the FARDC (Congolese armed forces), they are our brothers, do we understand each other?” he said.
Parents of missing civilians and soldiers gathered in front of the provincial hospital, hoping for news of loved ones.
Fighting in the city has led to at least 2,900 deaths and left thousands injured, according to UN figures.
But a lack of space and resources means only a few hundred people have been buried.