The spokesman for the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s army, Maj Gen Sylvain Ekenge, confirmed that the former Governor of the Kivu Province at the military level, Maj Gen Peter Cirimwami Nkuba, had died from his wounds.
On the night of January 23, 2025, the M23 movement announced that Maj Gen Cirimwami Nkuba had been shot in the Kasengezi area.
Maj Gen Cirimwami was killed when the DRC army was fighting M23 fighters in the town of Sake and its outskirts, about 20 kilometers from the city of Goma. At that time, he had gone to support government soldiers and to be photographed with those at the forefront of the battle.
Gen Maj Ekenge said that Gen Maj Cirimwami was seriously injured after being shot, and that he was rescued and everything was done to get him to Kinshasa where he was supposed to receive basic medical care and be taken abroad for treatment, but unfortunately, his injuries were fatal.
This spokesman gave a message to the joint forces of the DRC Army that the best way to avenge Gen Maj Cirimwami is to push M23 away from Goma and take away all the areas it controls.
He said, “The best way to avenge Gen Maj Peter Cirimwami is that we must push the enemy away from Goma and take away all the areas it has captured. It is a duty and these duties are an expression of patriotism.”
Gen Maj Cirimwami, who was honored by the President of the DRC, President Félix Tshisekedi, was born into the Abashi tribe in the city of Bukavu, South Kivu Province.
He spent most of his military career in the East of the DRC. He is one of those whom the government of this country believed to be well-organized.
Gen Maj Cirimwami was often seen as a strong supporter of groups including Wazalendo and FDLR, and even showed an open role in the cooperation between the DRC army and these groups, especially in the war they were fighting against the M23 armed group.
Several expert reports have shown that Gen Maj Cirimwami was the mastermind behind the coordination between the FDLR and the DRC government and the country’s army.
Gen Maj Cirimwami was killed when the M23 announced on January 23, 2025, that it was going to capture the city of Goma, considered the capital of North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
