Feature: In eastern DR Cong's Sake, life hangs between war and survival

The Star

19-05-2025

SAKE, DR Congo, May 19 (Xinhua) -- In the war-scarred hills of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the town of Sake bears the jagged outlines of conflict and endurance.
The TOWN THAT FELL TWICE
Once a quiet transit hub just 27 km west of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, Sake has become both a symbol of eastern Congo's unraveling and a strategic foothold in the resurgence of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group.
Earlier this year, M23 rebels swept through the area, seizing control after fierce clashes with government forces. As mortars rained down on homes and farmlands, nearly all of Sake's 130,000 residents fled eastward, abandoning their homes, fields, and memories.
Perched strategically at the junction of key roads, Sake is more than just a farming town. It serves as a rear guard for Goma and a buffer between the provincial capital and the contested territories of Masisi and Walikale. Whoever controls Sake also controls vital trade, aid and military routes.
The town's fall in late January paved the way for the rebels to capture Goma just days later and continue their push toward Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu.
When residents returned, they found no signs of peace, only remnants of war. Bullet casings littered the main roads. Though the markets have reopened, few buyers have returned.
"We don't even know if this is still our homeland," said Noella Bulambo, a local vendor arranging plantains and tangerines on a piece of cloth. "We try to sell, but people are hungry. We ask ourselves: has this place been ruined for good?"
Like most residents, Bulambo fled in early 2024 and lived in displacement camps near Goma. But in February, those camps were dismantled under rebel orders, and thousands were forced to "go back where they came from."
In April, Bulambo reopened her small stall in a fractured market. But her town was no longer the same.
Across M23-held territory, cash is scarce. With banks shut down, mobile payment systems disrupted, and trade routes blocked, local markets barely function. Barter has returned: charcoal for soap, maize for salt.
"People's money is locked in the bank," said a local money changer. "Without cash, people don't eat."
FIELDS THAT FEED AND KILL
For Sake's residents, the war did not end when the shelling stopped -- it simply went underground. Hills and roads are now littered with hidden dangers: unexploded ordnance, roaming bandits and areas marked with branches where landmines are suspected.
"We no longer go to the fields," said Immaculee Bauma, a mother of 10. "There are bombs buried there. Some people went and never came back. Others were raped. I would rather go hungry than bury another child."
With farmlands too dangerous to farm, residents have turned to backyard plots and courtyard gardens. Marina Bazungu, 72, tends onions and spinach beside her damaged hut while caring for seven grandchildren.
"We fled to Goma and stayed in camps," she said. "But we were forced to return. We are not safe here. We cannot reach our real farms. Explosions still happen."
Taoffic Mohamed Toure, a veteran with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) based in Goma, said several children were hospitalized after mistaking unexploded ordnance for toys.
"Some of them were just playing in the fields when they found shiny metal objects," he said. "They did not know it was deadly."
Farming is the backbone of Sake's economy. "The Kamuronza area of Sake has good farmland," said local agronomist Jonas Mudumbi. "But no one dares plant. Traders are few. If we cannot grow food, we will die."
GATEWAY TO PROFIT
Today, Sake has evolved beyond a military outpost. Its position along the route to Masisi-home to Rubaya, one of the world's largest coltan deposits, making it a logistical and revenue hub for the M23 group.
In recent weeks, people have been spotted repairing roads around Sake and deep into Masisi territory. Bulldozers level dirt tracks while trucks haul materials.
"This is how we build a state," said Corneille Nangaa, head of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), a politico-military coalition allied with the M23 group. "Other countries have roads. Why not us?"
But according to a UN report from December 2024, the M23 and its affiliates have forced local people to work on road and mining infrastructure. Locals refer to this practice as salongo, a term that once described voluntary community labor, but which now means unpaid, compulsory work.
The UN estimates that the M23 extracts up to 120 tons of coltan monthly, generating more than 800,000 U.S. dollars through informal taxation and control of transport routes.
As gunfire echoes from nearby frontlines and diplomatic efforts inch forward, the fate of Sake hangs in the balance. Yet in its scorched alleys and crowded markets, where broken lives are rebuilt one day at a time, the will to endure remains unbroken.