Against all expectations, the rector of the University of Kisangani prohibits, on Tuesday August 16, the scientific conferences of Denis Mukwege on the university campus. In his decision, Professor Jean-Faustin Bongilo cited security and logistical reasons.

"The University of Kisangani is not in a position to ensure the security and protection of infrastructures and persons in case of overflow. Similarly, it is not able to guarantee the material and technical conditions for the conduct of activities," he stated, in correspondence received by POLITICO.CD

Reacting to this decision, the main opposition figure to the ruling power, Martin Fayulu, speaks of "a disgrace." For him, the rector of the University of Kisangani must give the real reasons for his decision.

"It is shameful, above all inadmissible, that a scientist of the stature of Doctor Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize winner, is refused the opportunity to conduct his conference at the University of Kisangani," he declares, on his Twitter thread. "I call on the rector of UNIKIS to give us the real reasons for his decision," he adds.

This Thursday, Denis Mukwege is eagerly awaited in Kisangani, capital of Tshopo Province. However, several sources announce that he would be blocked in Panzi this morning, shortly before heading to the airport. According to Alphonse Maindo, one of his close associates in Kisangani, strategies continue to be refined to prevent the Nobel Prize winner from speaking.

"Urgent! Expected today in Kisangani, Denis Mukwege blocked in his hospital in Panzi. Bukavu under barricades. Government blocking strategies to prevent him from speaking and moving. Yesterday, all flights to Kisangani cancelled, Unikis professors are worried and threatened," he alerts, this morning, on Twitter.

Doctor Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Panzi Hospital in South Kivu, will arrive in the city of Kisangani, in Tshopo Province, from August 18 to 19, 2022, for important scientific conferences and field trips. The first conference is scheduled for Thursday August 18 at the Alliance Française in Kisangani, at 2 p.m. It will focus on "the management of traumatic fistulas."

Serge SINDANI