Residents reported intense shooting in the city, near Lake Tanganyika, from around 8 p.m. on September 5, 2025. The clashes involved AK-47 rifles and machine guns.
Sources indicate that the Wazalendo fighters engaged in the shootout with FARDC were members of a unit led by 'General' John Makanaki, which has long been active in South Kivu.
Since September 2, 2025, Wazalendo fighters have staged major demonstrations in Uvira, demanding the removal of Brig Gen Olivier Gasita, a FARDC officer whom they accuse of being Rwandan. Their suspicions are based on his identity as a Munyamulenge, an ethnic minority group in eastern DRC.
The unrest has paralyzed life in the city. Wazalendo closed the main highway, disrupted economic activities, and vowed to continue until Brig Gen Gasita was removed from Uvira.
On September 5, 2025, Uvira's interim mayor, Kifara Kapenda Kik'v, convened a meeting aimed at defusing tensions. It was attended by Wazalendo leaders, including Makanaki and 'General' William Amuri Yakutumba. However, the talks failed, and protests continued.
Yakutumba insisted that Brig Gen Gasita must leave Uvira. Makanaki warned that if the general had not departed by September 8, his fighters would shut down the DRCâ€"Burundi border and block the port of Uvira on Lake Tanganyika.
Yakutumba firmly stated during the tense meeting, 'We do not want the commander sent here, Gen Gasita, in Uvira.'
The FARDC spokesperson, Maj Gen Sylvain Ekenge Bomusa, had earlier urged Wazalendo to accept Brig Gen Gasita, stressing that the General appointed by the head of state had never betrayed the country.
IGIHE
Source : https://en.igihe.com/news/article/fardc-and-wazalendo-clash-in-uvira
