Kinshasa, D.R. Congo—More than 800 people took part in the 2016 Peace Road march, including government officials and around 20 Ambassadors for Peace.
The internationally held peace initiative was organized by UPF of D.R. Congo in the capital, Kinshasa, on May 29. The march lasted two hours, and the participants traveled 15 kilometers (over 9 miles).
The marchers included contingents from the D.R. Congo chapters of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) and the Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP), three organizations that are affiliated with UPF.
The peace march this year was held in a very difficult political context, for the simple reason that the political situation in the country was not stable. All the political parties of the opposition had called on the population to demonstrate in protest against the extension of the mandate of the current head of state, and the march of the opposition was repressed by the police.
At the last minute, the governor of the city allowed our event to take place. During the march, from the Limete neighborhood to the Cinquantenaire Promenade near the People’s Palace, the participants received many questions as to whether they represented a political party, a church or another kind of organization.
At the rally after the march, UPF of D.R. Congo Secretary General Jean Pierre Kadima Mundadi addressed the participants. Anne Marie Lingulongo, president of WFWP of D.R. Congo, also gave a talk.
Among the Ambassadors for Peace who took part in the Peace Road march were Dr. Florimont Tshioko, a federal government minister, and Marie Laure Kawanda, the former transport minister. In a talk given at the rally Dr. Tshioko thanked UPF Founder Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon for his exemplary life conducted in the service of God and humanity. He also urged the audience to perpetuate the legacy bequeathed to us by Rev. Moon: namely, to practice the principle of living for the sake of others.
The choir New Hope Singers performed several songs of peace.