The governor of North Kivu, Major-General Peter Cirimwami, has died in the fighting between the Congolese army and the M23. The Congolese army confirmed the death on Friday, after a meeting of the Defence Council that President Felix Tshisekedi chaired.
"We announce the death of the governor of North Kivu, Major-General Cirimwami Nkuba Peter, who fell with a gun in his hand on the field of honour. He was injured. We evacuated him and everything was done to get him to Kinshasa and take him for appropriate treatment outside the country but, unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries," said Sylvain Ekenge, Spokesman for the FARDC.
Even in death, Major-General Peter Cirimwami will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, FARDC said.
He had been appointed interim head of North Kivu in October 2023 to replace Lieutenant-General Constant Ndima, who was recalled to Kinshasa after a bloody incident in Goma, where about 50 followers of a religious sect were killed by a Congolese army unit.
The army says a state funeral for Cirimwami will be held in Kinshasa in the coming days. "The best way to avenge General Cirimwami is to repel these aggressors and recover all the localities they occupy today. It's a duty, it's a patriotic obligation," Gen Ekenge said.
The major general was hit by a bullet while supervising operations in the fighting to recover the town of Sake, currently in the hands of the M23.
In the fighting to recover the city of Sake, nine soldiers of the UN peacekeeping mission were also wounded, according to the official report of the UN mission in the DRC.
Sake, about 20 kilometres from Goma, the largest major city in North Kivu, is the last barrier to access Goma. The capital is under threat from the rebels. Goma is therefore in general panic with the prospect of a violent confrontation.
Already, fighting in surrounding localities has disrupted electricity supply to Goma, power utility Virunga Energies announced. Goma runs now without water and electricity.
