“Kinshasa was torn in two”: Catholic Priest Recounts Devastation of Flooding in DR Congo Capital that Killed over 30

He continued, “The cries of children echo through flooded streets. Mothers search for what little remains of their homes. The elderly sit in silence, waiting, some in despair, others in prayer.”

The floods reportedly occurred when the N’Djili River, which runs through the city that has an estimated population of 17.8 million people burst its banks and submerged major roads.

Fr. Bolengu told ACI Africa that the flooding is receding but Kinshasa’s essential services including electricity, water, and health remain broken. 

“The N’Djili River, once our source of life, has turned against us, flooding our homes and cutting us off from clean drinking water,” he said, and added, “I fear, with a heavy heart, that diseases will follow the flood, unless urgent action is taken.”

Fr. Bolengu is the Priest in charge of St. Francis of Paola Parish in Plateaux de Bateke, a rural area of DRC’s capital Kinshasa. He told ACI Africa that the area was completely cut off from the capital owing to the floods.

“Here, we depend on Kinshasa for everything. When it flooded, we couldn't go shopping because we get everything from Kinshasa,” the MHM member said.

“On the day of the floods, some Religious Sisters visited us at the Parish. They encountered the floods on their way back to Kinshasa and had to come back to the Parish,” he said.

The Congolese Priest spoke to ACI Africa when he had visited a relative who had lost everything in the floods. “I visited my cousin today and found her with nothing. She, and the others with whom she shared an apartment lost everything in the floods and they have to start life afresh,” he said, adding that his compatriots have been dying annually as a result of flooding.

In 2024, Congo faced its worst flooding in six decades, according to UNICEF and other United Nations agencies. More than 300 people died, and 280,000 households were displaced. In 2023, more than 400 people died in floods; in 2022, rains and floods killed more than 160.

Fr. Bolengu blamed flooding on human activities, saying, “These floods are a consequence, not only of the rain but of our neglect. ‎‎Houses are built where water should flow. ‎‎Rubbish is blocking the city’s veins, its drains. ‎‎Rivers are overflowing because we failed to care.”

He told ACI Africa that he has been working with young people in Plateau de Bateke in planting trees “and healing our land.”

“We believe in the sacred duty to care for our common home, Mother Earth as Pope Francis reminds us in Laudato Si’,” the MHM Priest said, referring to the May 2015 Encyclical Letter on care for our common home.

He added, “Together, the youth, Fr. Joseph Emeru and I have planted hundreds of trees, hoping to restore balance, reduce erosion, and protect future generations from ecological disasters. This is our humble response: faith in action, creation as vocation.”

Fr. Bolengu expressed solidarity with flood victims in Kinshasa, saying, “As a Priest, I look to Christ, who wept at the tomb of Lazarus. I too weep for the lost, for the broken, for the forgotten. I am afraid. I am grieving. And yet, I am not without hope. ‎‎Because in the rubble, I still see hands reaching to help. I see youth cleaning drains. I see women sharing what little food they have. I see the Church rising, not only in prayer, but in service.”

He also appealed to people of goodwill to support those who have lost everything in the floods. He said, “‎‎To all people of good will within the Church and beyond I cry out: Kinshasa needs you. We need emergency support. We need clean water, medical care, and shelter. And we need your prayers.”

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“‎‎Let us not turn away from this suffering. Let us not grow numb to the pain. Let us act now, with faith, with love, and with urgency,” Fr. Bolengu appealed in the April 9 interview with ACI Africa. 

The flooding devastation finds DRC battling with a growing humanitarian crisis owing to the current incursion of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels, who have made inroads into the Central African nation, with significant gains already made in the mineral-rich Eastern part.

Researchers at Denis Hurley Peace Institute (DHPI) of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) have warned that should the Rwanda-backed invasion continue, DRC risks a “complete breakdown”. 

Amid the challenges, including seemingly never-ending armed conflicts in the poverty-stricken Plateaux de Bateke, Fr. Bolengu has expressed his commitment to be the voice of the voiceless.

“‎As I walk through this suffering, I feel both powerless and called to raise my voice for those who have none, and to weep with those who weep,” the MHM member told ACI Africa, and added, “Kinshasa is not just a city. It is a soul; wounded, fragile, and yearning for compassion.”