AFRICA/DR CONGO - The young customs officer, killed for opposing corrupt officials who wanted to import a shipment of bad rice, will be beatified

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - The young Congolese civil servant assassinated for opposing corruption will be beatified. Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi, a young civil servant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, had refused to give in to corruption to allow the importation of a shipment of bad rice from Rwanda.
On 25 November, Pope Francis authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree concerning the martyrdom of the Servant of God Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi, a lay faithful, born on 13 June 1981 in Goma (Democratic Republic of Congo) and killed in that city in hatred of the faith on 8 June 2007.
Floribert was employed in the Goma office of the Congolese Control Office (OCC), the public body responsible for controlling the quality, quantity and conformity of goods. Quality control consisted of verifying the conformity of products with national and international regulations, through physicochemical and microbiological analysis of the samples taken.
In the course of his duties, he opposed the passage of a shipment of spoiled rice from Rwanda, destined for the Congolese market, with serious consequences for the health of consumers. Despite offers of bribes from crooked traders, Floribert stubbornly refused to let the cargo pass. The offers of money then turned into threats, but the young civil servant did not give in. On July 7, 2007, unknown assailants forced him into a car. On July 9, his lifeless body was found in a vacant lot not far from the scene of the kidnapping. It was established that Floribert was tortured and beaten before being killed. Known for his devotion to God and the Catholic Church, Floribert Bwana Chui was linked to the Community of Sant'Egidio. He distinguished himself by his religious fervor and his desire to live daily according to the teachings of the Gospel. His sacrifice is compared to that of Blessed Isidore Bakanja, another Congolese martyr beatified in 1994 by Pope John Paul II. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 28/11/2024)

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