Bottom Line

Multiple armed confrontations in Ituri killed combatants and civilians and drove more than 3,000 people toward MONUSCO positions, while fighting and reported drone attacks continued across the Masisi and Walikale fronts. Ebola has passed 8,000 confirmed cases, although declining infections and 42-day no-case periods in seven health zones provide evidence that transmission is slowing unevenly. South Kivu recorded 15 cholera deaths in one week, and the government says a four-percent supplementary pension deduction for public employees will begin in October.

Security and Eastern DRC

Armed-group escalation displaces thousands across Ituri

Fighting involving FARDC, the Convention for the Popular Revolution (CRP) and the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) killed at least 16 militia fighters and drove more than 3,000 civilians toward MONUSCO positions in Djugu. An armed incursion and subsequent clashes around Blukwa burned homes and caused panic at the Rhoo displacement site, while another CODECO attack reportedly killed a herder and carried off more than 200 cattle.

The CRP is led by Thomas Lubanga, the former Hema militia leader convicted by the International Criminal Court for recruiting child soldiers, and draws recruits from predominantly Hema armed networks. CODECO is a loose coalition of militias rooted mainly in the Lendu community. Their confrontation overlaps with Ituri’s long-running Hema–Lendu conflict.

Separately, an attack attributed locally to the ADF killed two people, burned four commercial buildings and displaced residents at Bandisende in Mambasa territory.

Fighting and drone attacks continue across Masisi and Walikale

Government-aligned forces reported recovering positions around Mindjendje as fighting continued across Masisi and Walikale. Separate attacks attributed to AFC/M23 targeted Wazalendo positions and Pinga airport with drones.

UN reporting says implementation of the Washington and Doha peace processes remains limited as the fighting continues.

Health

Ebola passes 8,000 cases as transmission slows unevenly

The Ebola outbreak has reached 8,067 confirmed cases and 3,901 deaths. Health authorities reported declining new infections, while seven health zones have gone 42 days without a new case. Ituri remains the principal center of transmission.

Cholera kills 15 people in South Kivu as transmission returns across five provinces

South Kivu health authorities recorded 15 cholera deaths in one week. Cholera has reappeared in five provinces after a period of relative calm.

The South Kivu toll follows the outbreak reported in Pweto, Haut-Katanga, where more than 400 cases had been recorded by September 25.

Politics and Public Administration

Four-percent supplementary pension deduction begins in October

The government says public employees will begin contributing four percent of their base pay and annual bonuses to a capitalized pension scheme in October, nine months after the initially announced start date. Contributions will be withheld when salaries are paid and transferred to the National Social Security Fund for State Public Employees, or CNSSAP.

The scheme creates individual retirement rights rather than financing benefits solely from the current state budget. After 15 years of contributions, retirees can take the accumulated savings as a lump sum, a lifetime annuity or a combination of the two; survivors receive the balance if a contributor dies.

Medicalized-abortion proposal revives a long-running legal and religious dispute

A proposed law on medicalized abortion has triggered a sharp dispute among deputies. The bill would align domestic law with the Maputo Protocol, which permits abortion in cases including rape, incest, serious fetal abnormality and danger to a woman’s physical or mental health.

The issue has divided Congolese institutions for years. The DRC ratified the protocol in 2008, but opposition from the Catholic Church helped delay its publication in the national gazette until 2018. The protocol’s broader grounds for legal abortion have also coexisted with narrower provisions in the 2018 public-health law, leaving uncertainty for patients, medical workers and courts.

Kinshasa begins census mapping for the second national population count

Authorities launched the Kinshasa mapping phase of the second general population and housing census. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo separately mobilized the Catholic Church to encourage public participation.

Economy, Industry and Infrastructure

Government adopts a civilian nuclear framework through 2035

The Council of Ministers adopted a national civil nuclear program covering 2026–2035. The framework brings nuclear research and cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency under a common government policy. Its initial scope is technical studies, regulation and stronger tracking of radioactive materials in mineral supply chains rather than reactor construction.

World Bank-backed water program targets more than one million Kasaï residents

Planned infrastructure under PASEA is intended to extend drinking-water access to more than one million people in Kasaï. PASEA is an 11-year, $1.25 billion World Bank-backed water and sanitation program covering Kasaï, Kasaï-Central, Kasaï-Oriental and Kwilu. Its $400 million first phase aims to provide basic drinking water to 2.9 million people and sanitation services to two million.

Presidency sets a 30-day deadline for business-climate reforms

President Félix Tshisekedi gave the administration 30 days to accelerate business-climate reforms after describing implementation as insufficient. He also ordered preparations to relaunch the national business-climate barometer.

Regulator orders ERG mines to drop 128 subcontractors

The Regulatory Authority for Subcontracting in the Private Sector ordered Frontier, Boss Mining and Metalkol to terminate contracts with 128 subcontractors that it found ineligible under Congolese local-content rules. Eurasian Resources Group is the mining and metals company that owns the three copper and cobalt operations.

The regulator identified 77 affected subcontractors at Frontier, 28 at Boss Mining and 23 at Metalkol. The companies have 30 days to submit corrective plans showing how the contracts will be ended and eligible Congolese-owned suppliers given access to future work.

More than 200 kilometers of railway power cables stolen in Haut-Lomami and Lualaba

More than 200 kilometers of copper overhead wires used to power SNCC trains have been stolen along the Tenke–Lubudi line in Lualaba and the Mukulakulu–Kamina line in Haut-Lomami. The thefts have also disrupted electricity supplies in Bukama, Luena and surrounding communities.

Luena is in Haut-Lomami, about 12 kilometers from the Mukulakulu toll post where two suspects were arrested on September 27 while transporting 2,600-volt railway cables.