Welcome to the United Nations

MONUSCO pays Tribute to the Peacekeeper killed by Armed Men in Beni

MONUSCO pays Tribute to the Peacekeeper killed by Armed Men in Beni

MONUSCO paid tribute to Sergeant Major Wahyudi Rama from the Indonesian contingent, killed on June 22, in an attack by armed men not far from the Semuliki bridge, on the road to Beni-Kasindi, the territory of Beni, North Kivu province. The tribute ceremony was organized on Saturday, June 27, at Beni airport, in the presence of both civilian and military officials of the UN Mission in DRC.

MONUSCO Force Commander, Lieutenant-General Augusto Ferreira Costa Neves; the Commander of the MONUSCO Integrated Force Brigade, Major-General Patrick Dube, and the Acting Mayor of the City of Beni, Modeste Bakwanamaha, took part in the tribute ceremony.

The ceremony began with a prayer said by the Imam of the Indonesian contingent. MONUSCO Force Commander thanked all the soldiers who came to pay tribute to their fallen colleague. "Sergeant Major Wahyudi Rama served under the United Nations’ flag with bravery, courage and rectitude, fulfilling his mission in a dangerous environment," said General Neves Costa. He deplored the fact that this blue helmet was killed by armed men while the "brave soldier was returning from the reconstruction site of the Hululu bridge" which is of paramount importance for the populations in the area, being the way that leads to Uganda and which helps to achieve intense economic exchanges with this neighboring country. This tragedy, he said, has "snatched away this brave soldier from his family, his friends…, and it is hard to find the exact words to describe our sadness."

The interim mayor of Beni expressed his condolences to MONUSCO, to the various contingents and particularly to the Indonesian contingent. “We are very sad to see this peacekeeper fall in the battlefield, in search of peace for the population of this part of the country. This difficult moment is not only the time to mourn, but above all an opportunity to develop the appropriate response, for FARDC and the peacekeepers to honor the memory of their brother-in-arm who has left us in intensely painful conditions on his way to protect the population through contributing to building the bridge for them to cross the Hululu river”, underscored Modeste Bakwanamaha. "We encourage peacekeepers from other contingents to work harder so that peace would become a reality in this area," he further said.

Modeste Bakwanamaha seized the opportunity to ask the populations to “support MONUSCO’s and FARDC ‘s activities to make the restoration of peace possible in the area which would help the population to live and to go about their farming activities peacefully''.

The body of Private Rama was repatriated the same day to Indonesia, his home country.