A year after the M23 armed group and its Rwandan allies seized Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the politico-military movement has stepped up measures to tighten its grip on the lakeside city. RFI spoke to residents about family loss, trying to adapt to daily life without a banking system and the struggle to build a life elsewhere.
One year after the attack by the AFC-M23 group and its Rwandan allies, no one can say for certain how many people were killed.
Humanitarian groups say several hundred people died in the fighting. The Congolese Red Cross and the ICRC alone buried more than 900 bodies following the clashes.
Furaha lost several family members on 27 and 28 January 2025.
Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn
"The soldiers were firing randomly into houses that weren't locked," she tells RFI. "They came into my plot and shot my husband. A young neighbour and my son tried to help us, they were hit."
Both her husband and the young neighbour were killed. "My husband left me with nine children. It's hard to feed them and send them to school now."
Furaha's house was destroyed in the fighting and she's calling for compensation.
So is Tumusifu, another bereaved mother. She's praying for peace to return.
"You can ask God to help us," she says in a tired voice. "So that the war does not happen again. We saw very grave things."
While families mourn their dead, others, like Rachel, are struggling with painful wounds.
She heard the fighting very close by and hid under her bed. But an explosive device fell on her house, leaving her with shrapnel in her body.
"Half of the fragments were removed and the rest remained. I can't walk long distances for now," she says.
Living without banks
Those who escaped injury have had to adapt their daily routine.
After the city fell to the rebels, the Congolese authorities suspended activities of the provincial branch of the Central Bank of Congo, effectively cutting Goma off from the banking system. All commercial banks closed and cash machines stopped working.
The economy, however, didn't ground to a halt and over the following months Goma's residents organised ways to cope with the cash shortage, at a price.
The quickest way to get money is via mobile money transfers, which have surged. But to withdraw cash, people have to go through informal exchange agents who take a fee on each transaction - up to 8 percent in April 2025.
Under pressure, the M23 ordered fees to be cut. They've gone down to 3 or 4 percent, though that's still high, especially for civil servants who are now paid by phone.
To justify the high rates, agents cite "transport costs" involved in getting hold of dollars.
Some now have to travel to cities outside rebel control, such as Beni or Butembo, or send money there through intermediaries who carry it back.
Others cross the border to Gisenyi in Rwanda, where banking fees are high. Larger traders face the same problem when trying to access their accounts or receive payments.
'Business is good'
In April, the M23 tried to relaunch the local branch of the Caisse générale du Congo (CADECO). The initiative has had little success - Kinshasa has declared it illegal and it faces cash shortages too.
Trade with the border city of Gisenyi has, however, surged. From 6am, when the Petite Barrière crossing opens, hundreds of small traders crowd the border. There's a constant flow of goods - fruit, cereals, vegetables, meat and manufactured products.
Traders use motorbikes or bicycles known as "handicaps" to move goods across.
"Business is good," says Evon Kasereka, who imports flasks and plastic buckets from Rwanda. "When our goods reach the border, the bicycle owners collect them. They pay the taxes and bring them across. I can move up to 20 boxes a month."
Thousands without lifesaving aid in DRC, says UN agency
According to Déo Bengeya Machozi of Goma's business school (ISC), trade volumes have risen by more than 30 percent due to smoother crossings and fewer obstacles, with imports from Rwanda increasing the most.
Ten days after taking Goma, the AFC-M23 movement began setting up a parallel administration. Over the weeks, it appointed a "governor of North Kivu", organised tests to select judges and spoke of issuing visas. In August 2025, it announced the creation of the "Congolese Revolutionary Police" force.
A report by the UN Group of Experts on DR Congo found that the force includes members of the Rwandan Defence Forces and has carried out operations involving "arbitrary detention and the forced recruitment of boys and men". UN experts said they'd spoken to "witnesses of acts of torture and inhuman treatment".
Ongoing struggle
Some of those who fled Goma are struggling elsewhere. Christian, who fled the rebel advance in January 2025, reached Tanganyika province and now shares a tent with relatives in a displacement camp near the capital Kalemie.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"I've been here since February," he says. "I received help from the World Food Programme (WFP) and then UNHCR when I arrived, but since then we've had no assistance. Health conditions are poor. We have no drinking water, our children are anaemic, we have no mosquito nets so we catch malaria. We've lived like this for almost a year."
When a new wave of displaced people arriving recently, he says they "tried to share what little we have, but we almost have nothing".
Who are the armed groups ravaging the eastern DRCongo?
A man called Espoir (meaning hope) left Goma after the city fell. After hiding for a few days, he got out disguised as a trader and crossed the country in fear to reach Kinshasa - more than 2,600km away.
Now living with a host family, he appeals to the authorities.
"There's no question of going back to Goma now. The fact the airport is closed makes travelling difficult. Many people from Goma living in Kinshasa used to travel back and forth to see family. How do they do that now the airport is closed?
"This war has affected family ties and the economy. Many families are separated against their will. That's why we are calling for the war to end as soon as possible so people can start moving around normally again."
This article, based on the original in French, has been lightly edited for clarity.
