Tensions have erupted in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Haut-Uélé province, where angry villager have set fire to trucks belonging to Kibali Gold Mine.
The mining company is a joint venture owned by Barrick Gold Corporation of Canada, AngloGold Ashanti of South Africa, and the Congolese government, which holds a 10% stake.
The unrest broke out in the Bovi area of Faradje territory, near Abinva, after locals accused the mining company of illegally expanding its concession without consultation and encroaching on ancestral lands.
Residents say the company extended its boundaries “arbitrarily,” ignoring long-standing community ownership and cultural ties to the land.
In response, Kibali Gold Mine insists that the disputed zone falls within its legally recognized concession, a claim the community strongly rejects as “false and provocative.”
On the night of October 20, 2025, community anger reached a boiling point.
Protesters torched several Kibali fuel trucks, an act seen as a desperate expression of frustration over what locals describe as years of uncompensated land losses and broken promises.
Nothing was taken out of the loaded trucks. The front trailers were simply set ablaze and left to burn. The back trailers and the cargo remained untouched as seen from videos circulating online.
Since the attack, a tense calm has returned to the area, but local residents continue to demand the immediate suspension of all work on the contested land.
Authorities in Faradje and the Haut-Uélé provincial capital, Isiro, have been urged to intervene quickly to mediate between the community and the mining company before tensions spiral into wider violence.
Kibali, one of Africa’s largest gold producers, has long been a key contributor to DRC’s export revenues.
However, the latest incident underscores the fragile relationship between large-scale mining operations and local communities, where disputes over land rights and compensation remain a source of recurring conflict.
