DR CONGO REBELS KIDNAP 21 TANZANIAN, UGANDA DRIVERS
Dar es Salaam. Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have allegedly abducted 21 drivers, 18 of who are Tanzanians working with Alistair Cargo Transport Company.
Alistair transport manager Anna Mbise said the incident is said to have occurred on Thursday morning after an intensive fire exchange between DRC police officers and the rebels.
“According to drivers, the DRC police who were escorting them were overpowered by the rebels during the fight that’s how our drivers were taken prisoners,” she said.
She said, the firm has filed a letter of notification to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation seeking for government assistance in order to ensure the drivers are released and send back home safely.
“We’re worried about their safety because there is a huge possibility that DRC forces are organising to invade the fighting scene,” she said.
The acting director of Africa from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Mr Suleiman Saleh, admitted to have received the information on the incident saying they have started working on it.
According to the coordinator of the Federation of East Africa Road Transport Association (Fearta), Mr Emmanuel Kakuyu, the drivers were taken prisoners at the Lulimba Village which borders Lake Tanganyika and Kindu Manyema.
The distance from Lulimba Village to Kigoma is 448 kilometers.
He said none of the drivers were injured and that they (drivers) and rebels have been in speaking in good terms.He added that the rebels have assured the safety of drivers.
“They have assured that all drivers, including three Ugandans, are safe insisting that they (rebels) have problems with their government not our drivers,” he said.
This is not the first time for Tanzanian drivers to get troubles in DRC as the same happened last September whereby four trucks were torched and eight drivers abducted by the MaiMai rebel group.
The incident occurred in Namoyo, South Kivu, DRC where the rebels burnt four trucks belonging to Simba Logistics owned by Azim Dewji.
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