Difficult cohabitation between ITI and ISPT Gombe: Ministers Tony Mwaba and Muhindo Nzangi take matters into their own hands

A row of iron bars will be temporarily erected to separate the Gombe Industrial Technical Institute (ITI Gombe) from the area housing the Gombe Higher Pedagogical and Technical Institute (ISPT-Gombe). This is one of the provisional measures taken by Tony Mwaba Kazadi, Minister of Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education (EPST), and Muhindo Nzangi, Minister of Higher and University Education (ESU), on Wednesday, October 4, 2023. This followed a site visit conducted by the two ministers to investigate the difficult coexistence observed over the past few days between the two state-owned educational institutions—one a secondary school and the other a higher education institution—located on Avenue de la Science in the Gombe district of Kinshasa. The other measure is that the government will find a way to house the 27 families evicted by the ISPT Gombe authorities from what was once the ITI Gombe dormitory and is now under the control of the higher education institute. These families have taken refuge in the classrooms, thereby causing classes at ITI/Gombe to be suspended. In fact, nine classrooms are occupied by these 27 families of evicted teachers. On site, it is evident that these families’ belongings have been piled up in the classrooms. Under these conditions, parents and adult children are forced to sleep in the same room on overturned desks. At the same time, these families are lamenting the theft of a significant portion of their belongings—including phones, school records, and academic documents—by a gang of kulunas known as the “intervention brigade,” brought in by ISPT authorities to evict these families without a warrant or legal authority. This gang repeated its atrocities at 3:00 a.m. on Monday, October 2. Cases of serious injuries and illnesses caused by these atrocities have also been reported. Consequently, Minister Tony Mwaba requested that his colleague at the ESU ensure that all remaining occupants of the ITI Gombe dormitory (now converted into student housing) also vacate the premises within 48 hours. The Minister of Higher Education, who immediately agreed to this request, believes this will be an opportunity to renovate these buildings, just as has been done with UNIKIN, UPN, and others. Before leaving, Professor Tony Mwaba urged the teachers’ families to remain calm and peaceful, while promising to find a housing solution for them starting this Thursday. Meanwhile, it appears that this property is being coveted by another usurper who allegedly forged a registration certificate and is seeking to seize everything. For Minister Tony Mwaba and his colleague Muhindo Nzangi, the priority at this time must be to restore the state’s rights. "Only then can we return to engage in a debate, based on historical documents, to determine which ministry owns the concession that houses these two buildings," concluded Minister Tony Mwaba before calling, along with his colleague from the ESU, for an immediate ceasefire between the two parties. As a reminder, the ISPT was established in 1976 with the aim of training teachers to instruct students at the ITI/Gombe. Moïse Dianyishayi