Searching for Bonobo in Congo

So many came to bid farewell.

It happened when everything was going so well.  A second province, Tshopo, declared parrot trade illegal in March. In April, the ink of the governor’s signature was still wet on the paper in the third province, Sankuru..  These are solid decrees with the message: No Parrot Trapping – No Parrot Trade.  With three provinces in line –we are ready to try for national protection, in DR Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.

Moise, from our P3CK Core Group, accepts a copy of the Parrot-Trafficking interdiction from Sankuru’s Minister of the Environment in Lusambo.

François Bahininwa (known to us as FB) with his legal expertise and steady hand was eager to lead the political push in Kinshasa.  Alas, ….no more.

François had a no-nonsense, straight-forward approach.  As a member of our small P3CK Core Group, he represented the government’s conservation institute, ICCN. 

François, second from right, in 2023, accompanied Maniema’s previous environment minister to visit the parrot traders in Kindu before the decree was signed.

At the Kindu airport in early December 2024, François, along with Mama Azama, wait for the parrots confiscated in Turkey .  François represented ICCN, she represents the Environmental Coordination.

Along with the 6 other members of the Core Group, François not only pushed for political action, but he followed the field-enforcement of political decisions.  He assured our first arrest in the area of Bikenge and the first parrot confiscations.  As the ICCN point person, François worked with John to open the Center for Parrot Conservation (CCP) where confiscated parrots are rehabilitated and released at the ICCN sub-station of Dingi.  By Congolese law, once confiscated, contraband Wildlife is the responsibility of ICCN; they then turn the parrots over to us, P3CK.

FB waits at the Lokandu port on the Congo River as parrots are unloaded from the dugout for Dingi’s CCP.

As the ICCN staff person on our project, P3CK, François opened the parrot rehabilitation and release center with John at the ICCN post in Dingi– here both relax among the flight cages.

François’s last field trip was to resolve a parrot impasse.  Parrots were still being illegally caught in Mulu, a major parrot feeding area.  In Mulu, African Greys fly down to feed on Papyrus, but are trapped when they land in the forest trees surrounding the papyrus swamps and river borders.

In Mulu, Ramazani (on left), a local agent of the environmental coordination was one of the people FB worked with to try to revitalize  parrot law-enforcement.

We received information from a local parrot protection NGO that trappers were active in Mulu, but no one was trying to stop them or confiscate the birds.  We suspected the problem was a local conflict of authority.  François went to resolve the problem.

FB met not only with local administration but also with customary authorities, as here from Mirundu.

François visited local chiefs and elders.  All were aware that parrot trade was illegal and said that, whereas the parrot trappers used to operate openly, they now enter the forest without informing locals and bring their parrots out to a pre-planned site between villages.  There they clandestinely load them on motorbikes, and instead of going to Kindu where the law is enforced, they now head south towards Lubumbashi in Katanga Province.

Local security, outside of major towns, has been officially handed over to Maimai or Wazalendu after they received minimal training. FB meets with the local branch in Mutipula.

The last day was Thursday, May 1^st.   Francois was in the hospital, it was FB’s second crisis since returning from Mulu, almost certainly related to diabetes.   But this one he did not pull through.  My WhatsApp inbox was a cascade of messages.  From his close friend, Noé, at ICCN :

« Bonsoir maman, Maitre François n’est plus, il vient de nous quitter à l’Hôpital Mapon à 20h. » “….François is no more, he left us at 8 PM.”

The funeral service took place on the 4^th May.  The casket was moved from his home to the church, to the ICCN offices, and finally to an open assembly area for a final service and testimonials.  His wife’s testimonial was particularly courageous.  François and Maua married when they were both quite young; they had 10 children together, 1 boy and 9 girls, the youngest 8 months old. 

One of François’s daughters, a prize-winning student, reading at home.

François was 45 years old when he died.

His Wife spoke at the funeral service, then she sang her goodbye in front of the casket.  Please excuse the poor quality of the video:

Translation of the song testimonial:

My husband, you are in Paradise, where there is no disease, no hunger, no war, no suffering. 
Paradise is for the blessed.
My husband you have finished your time here on earth,  we are left behind.
Paradise is for the blessed.
We must live kindly with each other as we wait for our time.
My husband, will I be called to join you among the blessed?
I do not know; we are just travelling through.
Paradise is for the blessed.