WHEN SOLDIERS STARVE AND COMMANDERS STEAL
There are few things more painful than watching the men who fight for Congo go hungry because their leaders have stolen their pay. The news that Colonel Nkulu Kilenge Delphin, commander in South Kivu, escaped with funds meant for soldiers’ salaries is not just another case of corruption — it is an act of betrayal.
The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) are supposed to protect the nation. They are supposed to be our shield against the rebels, against Rwanda’s M23, against the chaos that bleeds our land. But how can a hungry soldier fight? How can a man stand on the front line with pride when his commander has eaten his wages?
The communiqué from the 11th Brigade revealed everything: the colonel disappeared before the payment operation even began. The money was gone, and with it, the little hope the soldiers had. These are men who sleep under the rain, who bury their comrades in shallow graves, who fight without proper weapons — and now, they fight without food.
This is not a small crime. It is treason of the deepest kind. Because every stolen dollar from the military budget is another coffin for a soldier, another widow, another orphan. When corruption reaches the trenches, it kills more than bullets. It kills morale. It kills loyalty. It kills the soul of the army.
We cannot build a strong nation when our soldiers are treated like beggars. The enemy does not only wear a rebel uniform — sometimes, he wears our own. Sometimes, he is a colonel with polished boots and empty promises.
This is not the first time such theft has happened. Across the country, commanders and administrators have long treated military funds like personal accounts. Ghost soldiers fill the payrolls — names that exist only on paper — while real soldiers are sent to die with empty stomachs. The generals in Kinshasa give speeches about patriotism while their men in the bush live like abandoned dogs.
How can we ask our youth to join the army when they see that bravery is punished and theft is rewarded? How can we demand unity when even those meant to lead are the first to betray? Every case like this weakens the spirit of the nation. It divides the army, turning soldiers against their commanders, brothers against brothers. And this is exactly what our enemies want.
The fighting in South Kivu, between the FARDC, the Wazalendo militias, and the M23 rebels, already stretches our army to its limits. The rebels advance not because they are stronger, but because we are disorganized and broken inside. And corruption is the weapon they use without even firing a bullet.
The spokesman for Sokola Sud operations confirmed the theft but gave no details. As always, silence protects the guilty. The colonel is “on the run” — just like hundreds of other thieves before him who will never see a day in prison. Because in Congo, when you steal bread, you go to jail. But when you steal millions, you go into hiding — until the government forgets.
We cannot keep pretending that corruption is normal. Soldiers must be paid on time, and those who steal their pay must face public justice, not secret trials. Let their names and faces be shown to the nation. Let the people see the real enemies of Congo — not only those who fight with guns, but those who destroy from within.
I think of the soldiers in the hills of Kivu tonight — cold, tired, unpaid, yet still defending a country that forgets them. They deserve better. They deserve leaders who fight with them, not against them.
Congo cannot win any war until it wins this one — the war against corruption, the war against betrayal, the war against the hunger that eats the heart of our army.
Until then, every stolen franc will be paid back in blood.