Baraka, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Baraka, also called Bala'a, is a city in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the South Kivu Province. It's the main city and metropolitan center of the Fizi Territory. The city is bordered by the Lweba River to the north, the Mutambala River to the south, Lake Tanganyika to the east, and the Lu'e River, Efuma Mountain, and Makundu Mountain to the west. Originally, Baraka was a small fishing village. In 1882, the village became the first administrative entity in Kivu to adopt an urban model.[1]

Baraka
Town
Sweet potatoes saleswoman in Baraka Mwambangu
Sweet potatoes saleswoman in Baraka Mwambangu
Baraka is located in Democratic Republic of the Congo
Baraka
Baraka
Coordinates: 4.104123°S 29.094035°E / -4.104123; 29.094035
CountryDemocratic Republic of the Congo
ProvinceSouth Kivu
TerritoryFizi Territory
Population
 (2014)
 • Total120,000

On February 10, 2010, it was granted city status by the national and provincial governments. Its population in late 2014 was around 120,000 and predominantly Swahili and Ebembe speaking.[1][2] Other estimates give 90,000. The name of the city means "blessing" in Swahili.[3]

The city comprises four municipalities: Baraka Center, Katanga, Kalundja, and Kafulo-Malikya. Within its urban center, Mmoma, Maison Escale, and Ibase are densely populated districts forming part of the commercial and financial centers.[1]

Geography

Baraka stretches from the Lweba River to the Mutambala River and along the shores of Lake Tanganyika. At its heart lies an aerodrome, surrounded by modern villas. The city is located south of Bukavu, Goma, and Uvira; north of Kalemie and Lubumbashi; east of Kindu; and west of Kigoma and Bujumbura.[1]

It is one of the thirty-five main cities in the DRC as designated by the central government. Among these cities, twenty-six are provincial capitals, and nine are socio-economic cities, including Baraka, Bandundu, Beni, Boma, Butembo, Likasi, Mwene-Ditu, Uvira, and Zongo. Baraka is renowned for its high quality of life, along with Uvira, Shabunda, and Kamituga.[1][4]

Climate

Baraka is located at 04° 05′ 38" S 29° 04′ 58" E, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, at an average altitude of 820 meters. The climate is of the tropical type, providing abundant sunshine throughout the year, with an average temperature of 23 °C. The highest temperatures reach 26 - 30 °C during the hottest periods. Baraka experiences two distinct seasons: the dry season and the rainy season.[5][6]

Hydrology

Baraka's territory is encompassed by the drainage basin of Lake Tanganyika, along with two major rivers: Mutambala and Nemba. There are other rivers, including Lweba, Lwindi, Luke, Mukera, Mwemezi, Kiriza and Rubana. The water from these rivers flows into Lake Tanganyika, creating a vast plain along the riverbanks and the lake. The oil field is located near the mouths of the Mutambala and Nemba Rivers. The lime deposits extend across the entire Ubwari Peninsula to the east of the city and the western regions of Baraka, including Mwasombo, Mwambangu, Mongemonge and Mwatembo. The high plateaus of Baraka Island contain deposits of gold, diamonds, coltan, tin, bauxite, iron, manganese, coal, cobalt, nickel, and peat.[6]

History

In 1858, Ubwari, Kibanga, and Baraka regions were named Burton Bay in honor of the famed European explorer Richard Francis Burton. At the same time, the Catholic missionaries, including P. Théophile Dromaux, Fr. François Coulbois, and Fr. Henri Delaunay, chose to call Kibanga as Lavigerieville. Lavigerieville was the name of a congregation of Belgian missionaries in Africa and a former bishop. The Catholic missionaries of that time agreed upon the name Lavigerieville. Meanwhile, other settlers considered naming Baraka as Ligerzville, as it resembled Ligerz, a Swiss municipality in the Canton of Bern.[7][8][6][9]

Cultural history

The designation of Baraka as a cultural city stems from the profound symbiosis between the Bembe culture and various other cultural influences. The Bembe people intricately intertwined their heritage with the traditions of Bwari, Lega, Buyu, Hemba, Bangubangu, Goma, Zoba, Luba, Twa, Vira, Fuliiru, Tabwa, Holoholo, and Bashi. Additionally, the presence of Arab-Swahilis, Belgians, and Catholic missionaries of Italian origin, as well as Protestants from the United States, Indians from India, and Chinese, further contributed to the city's cultural mosaic.[6]

From 14th to the 17th century
Bembe women involved in the Uhulana ceremony, ca. 1950s by Daniel P. Biebuyck.  

According to Bembe's oral tradition, Baraka was the place where the natives descended from the highlands to catch fish for food around 1400. During that time, the beaches of Baraka were used for the rituals of the indigenous people and served as a favorable location for navigation to explore the other shore of Lake Tanganyika. It was during this period that the Bembes named the lake "Étanga 'ya ni'a," which is believed by numerous historians, anthropologists, and ethnologists to be the origin of the name "Tanganyika".[10][11][6]

19th century

Baraka was founded by the Arab-Swahilis in the 19th century for the purpose of triangular trade. Up until 1894, when the Arab-Swahili slave traders—mainly warlords engaged in the Indian Ocean slave trade—were driven out from Maniema by the Force Publique, the Fizi Territory was intersected by a slave route that stretched from Nyangwe, through Kabambare and Kalembelembe, to Baraka, where slaves were brought in.[12][6]

Three men of Dugumbé ben Habib raiding the market of Nyangwe, July 15th, 1871

Baraka emerged as a major trading center with a large port for holding enslaved people from Kasongo and transporting them to Ujiji in Tanzania. Around 1890, the Force Publique removed Arab-Swahili presence along Lake Tanganyika to prevent interference with their colonization of Congo Free State (État indépendant du Congo). Using the pretext of anti-slavery efforts, they launched a military expedition to protect indigenous populations from the slave trade in the eastern part of the Congo Free State. Military operations were carried out in late 1894, resulting in Baraka becoming a Congo Free State colony after a battle between the Arab-Swahilis and the Force Publique.[13][6]

20th and 21st centuries

During World War I, the Belgians drove out the Germans from Baraka by occupying Kigoma and Tabora in Tanzania, as well as Bujumbura and Rumonge in Burundi, in 1916 under the command of the Force Publique.[14][15]

2022

The region also played a key role in the 20th century by supporting the independence movement, hosting the Lumumbists and the Mulelists. In 1957, a revolt against the oppressive system led by Mr. Émbolo of the Bembe ethnic group erupted in the Katanga commune. Émbolo was later arrested, imprisoned in Bukavu, and released after one year of penance. In the 1960s, the city was at the center of cross-border Maoist insurgency started by Laurent-Désiré Kabila. It continued well until the 1980s. The population of the city considerably decreased during the Civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, during which the city was under control of the Rwanda-backed Rally for Congolese Democracy. After the end of the war, people started to return and take jobs, mainly in the trade.[2][16][6][17]

In 2014, the city drew attention as a pilot project for the Missing Maps project.[2]

As of 2015, in Baraka there were no paved roads, no running water, and no electricity.

In October 2021 MONUSCO opened a base nearby that allowed 7,000 people to return. In February 2022 they created a temporary base north of Baraka to deal with Mai-Mai attacks.[18]

References
  1. Musengelwa, Séraphine Feza (2021). "Analyse des facteurs favorisant le mariage précoce dans le ville de Baraka, en RDC" (in French). Baraka, Fizi Territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Institut Supérieur de Développement Rural de Fizi. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  2. Michael, Chris (6 November 2014). "Missing Maps: what is Baraka ... and how can you help map it?". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  3. Charles, Joseph (July 30, 2013). "Say It in English, Please!": World Language and Culture Paranoia. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse. p. 5. ISBN 9781481763899.
  4. School, Africa EENI Global Business. "Foreign Trade in the DR Congo". Africa EENI Global Business School. Retrieved 2023-06-13. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  5. Balolage, Elisée Cirhuza; Bushenyula, Parfait Kaningu (2023-04-17), "Interconnections between War, Armed Conflict and Demonstrations in the Peri-urban Towns of Baraka and Uvira in DR Congo", Rebellious Riots, Brill, pp. 162–179, ISBN 978-90-04-54240-2, retrieved 2023-06-13
  6. Avec Vous nous Pouvons (2016). "Baraka". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  7. Littell, Blaine (1966). South of the Moon: On Stanley's Trail Through the Dark Continent. Manhattan, New York City, New York State: Harper & Row. p. 189.
  8. Francis Burton, Sir Richard (1860). The Lake Regions of Central Africa: A Picture of Exploration, Volume 1. New York City: Harper. pp. 347–355.
  9. Stanley, Henry Morton (1878). Through the Dark Continent Or The Sources of the Nile Around the Great Lakes of Equatorial Africa and Down the Livingstone River to the Atlantic Ocean, Volumes 1-2. New York City: Harper.
  10. Scottish Geographical Magazine: Volume 3. Perth, Scotland: Royal Scottish Geographical Society. 1887. p. 539.
  11. Biebuyck, Daniel P. (1982). Statuary from the Pre-Bembe Hunters: Issues in the Interpretation of Ancestral Figurines Ascribed to the Basikasingo-Bembe-Boyo (in English, French, and Dutch). Tervuren, Belgium: Royal Museum of Central Africa.
  12. Traveler's Guide to the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi. Brussels, Belgium: Tourist Bureau for the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi. 1956. p. 396.
  13. Richmond Wollaston, Alexander Frederick (1908). From Ruwenzori to the Congo: A Naturalist's Journey Across Africa. London, United Kingdom: J. Murray. pp. 224–225.
  14. Reports of the Missionary and Benevolent Boards and Committees to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Louisville, Kentucky: Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. 1917.
  15. Board of Trade Journal: Volume 86. London, United Kingdom: H.M. Stationery Office. 1914. pp. 760–761.
  16. Hudson, Andrew (July 19, 2012). Congo Unravelled: Military Operations from Independence to the Mercenary Revolt 1960–68. Warwick, England: Helion Limited. ISBN 9781909384330.
  17. Delmas, Adrien; Bonacci, Giulia; Argyriadis, Kali, eds. (November 2020). Cuba and Africa, 1959-1994: Writing an Alternative Atlantic History. Johannesburg, South Africa: Wits University Press. ISBN 9781776146352.
  18. Photos, MONUSCO (2022-02-28), PHOTO DU JOUR DU LUNDI 28 FEVRIER 2022, retrieved 2022-02-28
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