RSF - Reporters sans frontières
RSF - Reporters sans frontières
04/02/2026 | Press release | Archived content
DRC: community radio director held in an undisclosed location in the eastern city of Goma
The director of the community radio station Top Buzi was arrested in the town of Minova, in South Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on 29 March. Transferred to the city of Goma the following day, his place of detention has since been kept secret. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the journalist's arbitrary detention and calls for his immediate release.
Espoir Mbata, the director of the community radio station Top Buzi FM, was arrested in the early hours of 29 March at the station's premises in Minova, South Kivu, by three individuals claiming to belong to the M23 rebel armed group. The previous day, the journalist had reshared a video on a WhatsApp group of a gathering after the M23's alleged withdrawal from the town. Citing a "rotation of units," the rebel group had withdrawnfrom several areas between 23 and 28 March but Minova remained under the group's control.
After being held for a day in the former police prison in Minova, the journalist was then transferred to Goma and has since been held in an undisclosed location according to RSF information. In addition to Munzenze central prison in Goma, the rebel group uses various sites in the city to detain prisoners, including the province's legislative assembly, where RSF revealedat the end of March the group has used shipping containers to detain at least two journalists and dozens of civilians.
Lawrence Kanyuka - the spokesperson for the Congo RIver Alliance-March 23 Movement (AFC/M23) coalition - and his deputy, Oscar Balinda, did not respond to RSF's requests for information.
"The arrest and detention of Espoir Mbata in an undisclosed location once again show that, contrary to its public statements, the M23 rebel group is targeting journalists in the territories it controls. Espoir Mbata's relatives and colleagues have had no news of him for more than four days now. RSF calls on the rebel group to end their ordeal and to release the journalist immediately.
Sadibou Marong
Director of RSF Sub-Saharan Africa
Eastern DRC, the epicentre of press freedom violations in Africa's Great Lakes region
Drawing on first-hand accounts from journalists and experts in the region, in RSF's latest report titled "What it's like to be a journalist in Africa's Great Lakes region,"published on 26 March, the NGO demonstrated that reporting independently from the east of the country is now almost impossible. Journalists are caught between two fronts: the M23 and the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC). Community radio stations are regularly pillagedand destroyed by the parties to the conflict. At least 33 radio stations have been ransacked or forced to suspend operations since January 2024 in North Kivu province.
The DRC ranks 133rd out of 180 countries and territories in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index.
Published on02.04.2026
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