Joeseph’s story | Recruited into the militias in Kasai Central, DRC

I’m Joseph*, and I’m 12 years old. I use to be part of an armed group called Kamunia Nsapu in Kasai-Central, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Before I joined the group, I was living with my Grandmother in Nganza, a suburb outside of Kananga. I helped her sell peanuts every afternoon. My life wasn’t easy, and there wasn’t a lot to eat. One day a friend told me he was recruiting children to work in an armed group, saying the group would take care of us. I knew this was an opportunity that I couldn’t miss, particularly because there was so little to eat. 

We had to go through an initiation ceremony to join the group. Called the red ant baptism, I had to swallow live ants. It was meant to make me stronger, so that during battle, I would not run away from live fire. The initiation made sure that no bullet could touch me. After I was initiated, they gave my main weapon - a stick. It would help kill all enemies in our path. Yet some of us still died.

One day some of us were captured in battle, and consequently revealed our secrets to the army. The next day, more than eighty children were killed. Bullets weren’t supposed to harm us after the initiation, but they did. 

After this defeat, we decided to strengthen our magical powers and go through another initiation ceremony. It was called the baptism of fire, and flames came out of my mouth. After this, I was able to burn an entire truck full of soldiers who had surrounded us. We did so many things during that battle. We killed a soldier, and ate him, and dried his head for a month before crushing the powder into booze. This gave me supernatural powers when facing our enemies.

Eventually, one of the commanders told us that our fellow soldiers had betrayed us for money. After such a betrayal, the Congolese military now had the upper hand. I saw so many of my friends dying, and I asked my leader, why? He said because of this betrayal, we needed to surrender. 

After so much loss, we decided to surrender for peace in Kananga. Our chief told us to present ourselves in front of state authorities. Now I’m living in the BCNE transit center with other children. They take care of us, but I haven’t heard anything about whether we’ll be able to go to school. I’d really like to become a mechanic. 

Joeseph*’s name has been changed to protect his identity and keep him safe.