Djokupunda, also spelt Djoko Punda and known in colonial times as Charlesville, is a small town in Kasai province of 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 ...

. A

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

mission of the Congo Inland Mission was founded there in 1912 and became a centre for establishing further missions in the region. The town is close to the upper

Kasai River The Kasai River ( ; called Cassai in Angola) is a tributary (left side) of the Congo River, located in Central Africa. The river begins in central Angola and flows to the east until it reaches the border between Angola and the Democratic Republi ...

, at the limit of navigation on that river, and is connected by dirt tracks to

Luebo Luebo or Lwebo is a town (officially a commune) of Kasai Province in south-central Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also the seat of the territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to ...

, 64 km east-north-east and

Tshikapa Tshikapa is the capital city of Kasai Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located north of the Angolan border and west of Kananga at the confluence of the Tshikapa and Kasai rivers. According to records published by the ...

, 150 km south. Djokupunda has schools and health clinics but no paved roads and no facilities for travellers. Until 1955, the Forminière company operated a 600 mm railway more or less along the river Kasai, South to Makumbi.

References

Bertsche, James E. (1989). "Congo, Democratic Republic of." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.
Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 May 2007 > Populated places in Kasaï Province {{DRCongo-geo-stub