Overcrowded and Eroding Cemetery in Kananga Worries Residents

Kananga's Hôpital neighborhood cemetery, the largest in the Kasai-Central province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is in a critical state of saturation and erosion, sparking significant concern among residents. What appears at first glance to be a neglected, overgrown space is, in reality, a site struggling to accommodate new burials. Dense vegetation obscures many graves, and only a few individuals tend to family plots.

The overcrowding has reached a point where finding available space for new interments is increasingly difficult. Residents report that graves are being dug in close proximity to existing ones, and some plots are used for successive burials. "You can dig a few meters and find a body. To the left, there's a coffin, and to the right, another. Sometimes, they remove the remains of one body to set them aside before burying a new person," lamented Dominique Kawelo, a local resident. These practices are deeply disturbing to many, who view them as a violation of the dignity of the deceased.

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You can dig a few meters and find a body. To the left, there's a coffin, and to the right, another. Sometimes, they remove the remains of one body to set them aside before burying a new person.

Compounding the issue of saturation is the alarming advance of erosion on the southern side of the cemetery. With each rainfall, sections of land collapse further, exposing funerary remnants. Fragments of coffins, human bones, and tattered fabric occasionally surface, creating a distressing spectacle for visitors. This situation fuels health fears among those living near the cemetery, who worry about the consequences of exposed human remains in an already unsanitary environment.

The lack of maintenance exacerbates the problem, with weeds overrunning pathways and covering graves. The upkeep largely falls to the families of the deceased and some religious groups who conduct sporadic weeding. Vicky Mbombo, visiting his father's grave, described the challenges: "We are forced to come and remove the weeds every month. If we don't do it, no one will do it for us." Faced with these accumulating problems, Kananga residents are urgently appealing to provincial authorities for immediate measures to alleviate the crisis.

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We are forced to come and remove the weeds every month. If we don't do it, no one will do it for us.