ROSE TUOMBEANE

ROSE TUOMBEANE

Rose Tuombeane Kahambu is an Investigative Journalist who has made it her mission through the Collective of Women Journalists to document the crimes perpetrated against communities ravaged by the conflict in different parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

When I studied Investigative Journalism, my goal was to eventually put my skills to use in a renowned media house in the capital, Kinshasa. Little did I know that I would be working with fellow women rights activists with the same passion to promote peace in our country, from my home region - in North Kivu.

In 2010, several women rights activists, including myself, decided to initiate a collective of women journalists with the sole purpose of demystifying the lack of credible information on peace which should be accessible to rural communities. Through the formation of the collective, we knew that we were playing an important role in giving these communities access to information. We were witnessing the harrowing crimes of violence that were being perpetrated against women and girls in the communities, therefore we saw the critical need to work together to build peace armed with information.

Several activists within the collective were also journalists by profession who wanted to investigate the atrocities occurring and subsequently document them. One of the pioneer activities of the Collective of Women Journalists was documentation. This documentation led to whistleblowing on the harsh crimes that we were witnessing daily, which eventually would lead to advocacy with the political leaders. The documentation took on many forms including information related to the victims and survivors, the authors and perpetrators of the conflict, and the impact of the violations on the communities. One may ask why we took on an approach that has not been popularized - we know that one day, local, regional, and global tribunals will be set up and this information will be pertinent to seeking justice for the victims, survivors, their loved ones and the country-at-large.

In 2018 following the Beni massacres which left more than 7,000 people hacked by machetes/axes and shot by rifles, I initiated data collection activities through the Collective around human rights violations that communities had witnessed. During the field research, I identified and trained focal points down to the depths of inaccessible areas to be able to support the documentation process that was highly critical in pinpointing the triggers for the massacres.

During this exercise that lasted months, several alleged perpetrators were documented, and subsequently, the reports were shared with national authorities. This information, which culminated in an advocacy campaign targeted at Congolese national authorities in Kinshasa as well as various national and international decision-making bodies with a view to asking them to use their power to put an end to the massacres in Beni, was a step forward in enabling the victims, survivors and families access justice and redress.

Due to the precarious nature of the human rights-centered peacebuilding work that I and my colleagues are doing, we are exposed to a multitude of risks and challenges. The high rate of instability in the region has meant that we must keep an ear to the ground watching out for any early warning signs of threats and attacks. In certain areas, we must seek dialogue with armed groups to provide us information - and unfortunately, in many cases, they are not willing to offer this important information in fear of their own security at the hands of their superiors.

Another challenge that I personally face is the stigma associated with being a woman investigative journalist. Some members of the society that I live in are prejudiced toward the work that I do. Another challenge faced is that we are constantly having to back-up the security of the data that we gather. We try our best to safeguard the data with passwords on the laptops and mobile phones that we have, however we have limited knowledge on data security. Our hope is that opportunities can be availed for us to have our capacity strengthened in securing all this credible information that we collect.

Whilst we navigated documentation, we also saw the cruciality in civic education. For the women to build peace, we understood that they needed to be involved at the political level. Thus, the Collective of Women Journalists organized a series of training sessions for women political leaders who were holding office and those who had political ambitions and aspirations. Furthermore, we carried out public rallies where these women were accorded space to share their respective manifestos and action plans. We organized radio programs as part of sensitization in addition to organizing open space conventions to popularize women’s meaningful participation as a gateway to building peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2018, I led a vast campaign to raise awareness and mobilize women to mass participation in elections. These activities, which took place in the cities of Butembo, Beni and Goma in North Kivu and the territories of Lubero and Beni in North Kivu, aimed to sensitize and mobilize women to participate massively in the elections of 2019 and vote massively for women so that they are present in decision-making bodies. This vast awareness-raising and mobilization campaign had positive impacts: the rate of participation of women in the election was considerably higher compared to the 2011 elections. The number of women in elected positions during the 2018 elections increased in Beni-Lubero.

In July 2021, through the Dynamique des Femmes pour la Bonne Gouvernance where I represent the Collective of Women Journalists, a campaign dubbed SURSECO aimed to detect and denounce the enemies of peace who are hiding among the population and planning more criminal acts. This community campaign gained traction through the community dwellers and have consequently taken full ownership of it.

Rose Tuombeane

Some of the members of the Collective of Women Journalists after a sensitization session on UNSCR 1325

©CFJ