The Mayor of Boma in the central Kongo province, Senghor Mbutuyibi, has promised to quickly get involved to ensure social peace prevails throughout the city, at the conclusion of advocacy on Wednesday by a civil society delegation from that city led by its acting president, Mr. Tity Phungu.

Mr. Tity Phungu explained: "We have indicated to the authority that currently the entire course of the river is occupied by individuals who have erected fences, thus preventing fishermen from carrying out their activities and selling fish. The occupation of the riverbanks makes the work of fishermen very difficult, both in terms of production and marketing."

Securing a strategic market

It is recalled that among the most well-known sites for selling fish in the city of Boma, there is the one known as "Ficher," which has existed since the colonial era.
It serves not only as a port for fishermen but also as a field and strategic agricultural market, the breadbasket of the people of Boma.

It is from Ficher that products from several villages and from Angola arrive, supplying the city of Boma with beans, bananas, chili peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, petroleum products... To take over this place is to expose the city's population to famine. Several families depend on this port, especially since unemployment is rampant in Boma with the closure of almost all local enterprises. It is thanks to fishing and agriculture that the people of Boma survive.

Boni Tsala