Top Congo FM, Congolese media in Belgium to cover the elections - Congo Indépendant

2024-06-07 17:58:16

ELECTION, 2024

From June 1 to June 8, Top Congo FM, the main private media outlet in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), set up a studio in Brussels to cover the federal, regional and European elections. On the program for this “Belgian Week”, broadcast live daily from 8 am to 1:30 pm, Kinshasa time, on video on YouTube and on the radio on FM waves in the DRC.

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“We did field reports in Brussels, Antwerp, Liège, Louvain-La-Neuve and Namur, where we went to meet the Congolese diaspora, explains Christian Lusakueno, Congo’s founding journalist. We found experts in our studio in Brussels, such as the journalist Colette Braeckman from Le Soir, and we organized political interviews with candidates of Congolese origin in the regional and federal elections from different lists. We also received the leaders of the main political parties. To end our week, next Saturday we will have an interview with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Hadja Lahbib. »

The annoying questions

During this week, Barr an Congo also addressed the angry questions. Mainly, the silence of the international community in the face of the human tragedy that has struck the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for almost 30 years. But also the employment and housing discrimination that still affects Belgians of African and Congolese origin mainly in Belgium.

“We talked about it with the leaders of the various parties, explain Christian Lusakueno. We asked them what they planned to do to improve the fate of non-indigenous communities in Belgium and how they intended to counter Rwanda’s aggression in eastern DRC. Because we note that, unfortunately, the tragedy affecting our country attracts less attention here than the war in Ukraine or what is happening in Gaza right now. »

This indifference to the suffering of the Congolese is often expressed in Kinshasa, when we talk about the relationship between Belgium and the Congolese. But, although there can be tensions at times, there is still a “special” relationship between Kinshasa and Brussels, almost 64 years after the independence of the former colony. ” Belgians may no longer be as attached to Congo-Zaire as their parents or grandparents. But the connections are still there as we saw during our week in Belgium. Candidates of Congolese origin and leaders of political parties know the importance of maintaining this link. »

Back to Basics

For Christian Lusakueno, founder of Top Congo FM, this “Belgian week” feels like a return to basics. From 1993 to 2002, in the premises of Radio Panik, Place Dailly, in Brussels, the journalist was the host of “Africa in a click”, a documentary and debate program widely followed by the Congolese diaspora in Belgium. He was then correspondent for Africa N°1 before launching a new media outlet, Top Congo FM, in Kinshasa on July 14, 2003.

“After 21 years of practice, we can talk about successbefore Christian Lusakueno. Today Top Congo FM is one of the rare Congolese media to cover the entire territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The survey company, Kantar TNS, even ranked us as the leading private media outlet in French-speaking Africa. Thanks to this reputation, we managed to raise the necessary funds to produce our special broadcasts from Brussels during the elections. €50,000 collected from our advertisers in just 48 hours.”

A budget which in particular made it possible to finance the travel of a team of 10 people (6 journalists and 4 technicians) for a week to Brussels. “We are grateful to the “Schengen house” in Kinshasa who provided visas for the entire team to run”, emphasizes the founder of Top Congo FM. A sign of confidence that does not deceive. Not all Congolese who knock on the door of the “Schengen house” are treated with the same respect.

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