Kinshasa, August 5, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the reopening of the privately owned Radio Nsenda Muana in the city of Mwene-Ditu, in the central Democratic Republic of the Congo, and for authorities to cease arresting journalists.
On July 29, Mwene-Ditu Mayor Gérard Tshibanda Kabue signed an order, reviewed by CPJ, indefinitely barring Radio Nsenda Muana from broadcasting for allegedly inciting tribal hatred and encouragingtax noncompliance.
On July 31, Tshibanda and police locked the station’s doors and arrested three staffers — program director Ally Clovis Kaseba, and reporters Prince Lulamba and Albin Mukadi, said the station’s board president Shico Shimatu Nsenda.
The journalists were detained at a local police station until August 4, when they were released on the order of provincial governor Iron Van Kalombo. The broadcaster remained shuttered, Shimatu told CPJ.
On August 2, Kaseba suffered severe hypertension and was transported to a local hospital where he remained at the time of publication, according to Shimatu and a video of the journalist’s transfer, which CPJ reviewed.
“DRC authorities should reverse the decision to suspend Radio Nsenda Muana and ensure that journalists are not criminalized for criticism of government officials,” said CPJ Regional Director Angela Quintal. “Public dialogue on matters of collective interest is a crucial role of the media, not cause for censorship.”
In February, Kaseba was arrested over a broadcast that critiqued Tshibanda’s management; he was released on bail several days later.
Shimatu said that on July 28, the station broadcast a phone-in program where listeners criticized Tshibanda’s management but no one incited tribal hatred or promoted tax evasion.
Tshibanda told CPJ that, for the past eight years, he had warned Radio Nsenda Muana journalists against allegedly inciting tribal hatred and “unfounded” criticism of the ruling Union for Democracy and Social Progress.
“Some missteps can be tolerated and others reprimanded,” he said. “This radio goes too far. It will remain closed.”
On July 31, the regulatory Higher Council of Audiovisual and Communication condemned Tshibanda’s suspension of the station. The National Press Union of Congo also decried the arrests and called the suspension “illegal,” demanding Tshibanda reverse it or face an “embargo” on media coverage of his work.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.