Kenyan Man Killed in DRC for Resembling a Tutsi
A Kenyan man who was trading in the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo was killed by locals, who lynched him simply because he looked like a Tutsi.
He was killed in broad daylight on Tuesday, September 2, 2025.
In eastern DRC, where he was killed, reports say he was selling shoes, including sandals, belts, and other items. He was a Kenyan from the Maasai community.
Videos that circulated show him lying on the ground before being tied hand and foot, after which they set him on fire with tires until he was reduced to ashes.
Around the scene where he was burned, there were many people—mostly young men and women, but also older men and women. Some of them were shouting that they had killed an M23 spy, a Tutsi.
One said: “We killed a Tutsi; that one is an M23 spy.”
The area where he was killed is Beni, in North Kivu Province, in the eastern part of the DRC.
Hate speech and acts of extreme violence, including killings, have long plagued this country. Though they began long ago, in recent years they have escalated to another level.
Many Tutsis in the country have been killed in this same way—some in Goma before it was taken by AFC/M23/MRDP, others in Kindu, Fizi, Walungu, Salamabila, and other places like Kamituga.
However, as AFC/M23/MRDP-Twirwaneho continues to expand their territory, Tutsis are beginning to find security, especially in areas already under their control, including the cities of Goma, Bukavu, Minembwe, Kamanyola, and many others.
