KAMPALA: Schools and health facilities in Nobili, Luanoli, Kamango, and Kikingi in the Eastern DR. Congo have re-opened months after closure following attacks by the rebel Allied Democratic Forces-ADF.
The decision to reopen the schools and health facilities follows weighted joint military operations by the Congolese government army and the Uganda People’s Defense Forces-UPDF against the rebels in the eastern part of the DRC.
Uganda and the DRC launched an offensive against ADF rebels in Eastern Congo in November last year. Kamango hospital’s in-charge, Dr. Ulungu Kichaguli Joshua, says that they had spent five months without fully operating due to the rampant ADF attacks at the facility. He says the rebels mainly targeted medicine and medical personnel.
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According to Dr. Ulungu, the rebels attacked Kamango hospital, looted Luanoli Health Center III, and Nobili health centre more than three times in 2021, and made off with a lot of medical supplies.
He says the population has been struggling to access medical services and predicts that many could have lost their lives to cases that would otherwise be treated.
Ulungu is worried that many health centres in the rural areas are yet to reopen for fear of renewed attacks. Gabriel Batuki, the Batalenga district inspector of schools, says that a number of schools in the town centre have resumed teaching.
He attributes this to the heavy deployment of security forces that have driven the rebels out of these areas. Batuki asks for more troops to be sent to rural areas where insurgency is still a threat.
Sector One Operation Shujaa Commander, Col James Kasule, says that when the UPDF reached the Nobili and Kamango areas, they realised some security gaps that have since been fixed. The FARDC Commander, 2013 Regiment, says that there is a general overall security improvement in Eastern DRC.
He noted that large sections of Nobili, Kamango, and Luanoli are generally peaceful and life is returning to normal. Chief Baluku Singa Deidone of Butalenga says that Congolese who had fled to Uganda are now going back to their home villages.
