Dekese is a community in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, on the right bank of the

Lukenie River The Lukenie River is a river in the central Congo basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). River barges from Kinshasa journey up the Congo, Kwah ( Kasai), and Fimi Rivers to the Lukenie as far as the landing at Kole, a journey of 6 ...

. It is the administrative center of the Dekese territory of Kasai province.

History

Dekese was founded as a colonial post by

Alexandre Delcommune Alexandre Delcommune (6 October 1855 – 7 August 1922) was a Belgian officer of the armed '' Force Publique'' of the Congo Free State who undertook extensive explorations of the country during the early colonial period of the Congo Free State. ...

around 1888. The territory is isolated. Roads are impassable and radio reception is very poor. The region suffered badly during the Second Congo War. In December 2001 there was an Ebola scare. Uganda, which was occupying the area, decided to screen all soldiers on their return home. The Kinshasa government asked the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

to help open a

humanitarian corridor A humanitarian corridor is a type of temporary demilitarized zone intended to allow the safe transit of humanitarian aid in, and/or refugees out of a crisis region. Such a corridor can also be associated with a no-fly zone or no-drive zone. Va ...

so they could also use the general hospital and medical personnel of Dekese. However, the illness had a much lower death rate than Ebola, with most of the victims being children under five and adults over 55, and appeared to be a respiratory disease. In October 2006 an outbreak of

monkeypox Monkeypox (also called mpox by the WHO) is an infectious viral disease that can occur in humans and some other animals. Symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over. The time from exposure t ...

was reported. The isolation of the region made it difficult to fight the epidemic. The territory suffered from continued communal conflicts. In 2010, of 176 such conflicts reported in the former Kasaï Occidental province, 38 were in Dekese Territory. In May 2011, after the governor of Kasai Occidental had been removed from office and a few days before the election of his successor, 40 soldiers arrived in Dekese, first in the town and then spreading out into the territory. They committed abuses including arbitrary arrests, looting and rape of women and minors. The purpose seemed to be to disrupt the elections.

Transportation

Dekese has an associated

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

nearby.

References

External links

*{{cite web , url=http://www.bobongo.be/images/2009-04-25/slides/Total%20loss%20ferry%20in%20Dekese%20a%20city%20that%20has%20no%20cars%20anymore.html , title=Total loss ferry in Dekese a city that has no cars anymore , author=Marc Hoogsteyns , year=2009 , access-date=2011-12-09 Populated places in Kasaï Province 1888 establishments in the Congo Free State