As he was leaving the city of Goma for Rutshuru to inspect the World Food Programme, the Italian ambassador to the DRC was brutally killed on the national road near Goma in Nyiragongo territory.
Aboard a WFP convoy without a security escort, the Italian diplomat was surprised by the negative forces operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
For the World Food Programme, « the authorities » without specifying (local or national) had allowed the ambassador to travel without a security escort ». For their part, the police authorities in North Kivu are surprised to note that « an ambassador arrives in a province and allows himself to make such a long journey without first announcing himself or requesting local security ».
The DRC government has promised, through its foreign minister, to do everything possible to ensure that responsibilities are established. In the meantime, Marie Ntumba Nzeza, Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited the wife of the killed ambassador at the official residence of the Italian embassy in Kinshasa.
Faustin Kalenga
