Dr Mukwege – DRC First Nobel Prize Winner, Hero in Panzi

The search of honours by many does not yield results in many cases, rather such honours do end up dishonouring. For Dr Muwkege, new narratives do change epithets to take on certain adjectives. Mukwege has not embarked on a frantic hunt for honours that give rise to profit; honours do chase him and stick firmly to his skin wherever he goes without unduly enriching him. Dr Mukwege’s saving actions in the Democratic Republic of Congo are not motivated by the goal of profit. Medical science is a field where aspiration to enjoyment and well-being are ensured after strenuous and hard academic efforts. But in Panzi, Denis Mukwege does overlook the joys of the world to serve his population; he seeks out sick people and takes care of them pro bono. Living standard in Panzi is a stumbling block in paying off medical bills, which are expensive for most of people who live there. A grandiloquent altruism that is reflected in his willingness to provide free health care to women who are victims of rape.

Over 30 years, Eastern DR Congo has been prone to warring violence and massive population displacement. The arrival of the Tutsis in power in Rwanda has wreaked havoc in the Grand Kivu region and is spreading at alarming and unquantifiable proportions. Wars brought to both Kivus by armed groups including M23 supported by the Kagame regime, have caused the death of many, especially among women. DRC mineral wealth is being blamed wrongly, accused of luring envy from Rwanda who is developing its economy through DRC minerals plundering and theft. As all roads lead to Rome, the rape of women – young and old – has become the weapon of war. The victims of such heart-breaking and distressing behaviours are taken to Dr Denis Mukwege who, unconditionally, takes care of them without distinction. Such an altruist attitude has earned Denis the name of the Women’s Repairer. DRC relies on the Doctor’s know-how in tirelessly shriving for smiles and hope restoration on these beleaguered women faces, wounded in their innermost being. To achieve this, a medical structure was built in Panzi in South Kivu, which allows the Doctor’s team to take care of these rape victims.

Geographically, Panzi is one of 3 suburbs in the municipality of Ibanda in the city of Bukavu. It extends on both sides of the road linking Bukavu to Uvira.

The municipality is at an altitude of 1,477m above sea level and serves as a Blessing Venue for rape victimized women to dream of another future in the face of unidentified and indefinite despair. Panzi showcasing as a place of saving women’s lives has touched the hearts of benefactors who do not hesitate to put their hands in their pockets and make donations. The hospital facilities that were built in 1999 are flooded by the influx of victims made vulnerable by rape forever. Palliatives provided by Dr Denis Mukwege will never erase the indelible marks of these moments of rape experienced by many women. At least, Mukwege plays a crucial role in the psychophysical recovery of such patients. Many times, the songs dedicated to the Doctor by patients translate their wish to prepare a special seat for Denis in the middle of their hearts. Black Africa mentality makes society intolerant towards raped women; many succeeding in condemning them, falsely accusing them of having displayed provocative behaviour to meet such fate. The cruelty of men’s judgment dangerously increases the degree of gloom of an already worse situation. Dr Denis Mukwege’s perseverance in going over his own limitations in providing a roof over the head of these women rejected by society, has earned him several warm accolades. The deepening of his knowledge in the treatment of traumatic uro-genital and lower genito-digestive fistulas in female victims in eastern DRC (the subject of his thesis at ULB in 2015) is a godsend one. This capacity building is a heavenly sent manna for wounded populations in having, at their disposal, a personality of Doctor Denis Mukwege’s calibre.

In 2018, he received the Nobel Peace Prize with Nadia Murad as a reward for their joint efforts to put an end to the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. This “award” found him on a long journey aimed at improving the conditions of victims of sexual assault in Grand Kivu, DRC, Africa and elsewhere. Doctor Mukwege remains the only Nobel Prize winner that DRC has known in its history. This global recognition, which carries a special distinction, was hardly honoured by the former regime. His accusations against armed groups supported by Rwanda could not encourage a Cum Laude applause in his honour by Congolese authorities of the time. The old regime’s connections with Kigali made such an approach classified without further action. In 2019, the new Head of State, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi did finally honour the country’s first Nobel Prize in the pantheon of the People’s Palace in front of the National Assembly and the Senate gathered in Congress. Better late than never!

Several times Laureate, Dr Mukwege does not distance himself from rubbing shoulders with the world donors when necessary and to bring them the victims’ voices. He has been everywhere to achieve his purpose; meetings with George Soros, Alexander Sorros (his son) who has already taken over, Bill Gates, and even politicians such as Tony Blair. Their support had been beneficial for better care with the creation of the Panzi Foundation in 2008. The funding allowed patients socio-economic reintegration as well as legal support, a model now based on four pillars, called: “One-stop centre” or “Panzi Model”. These achievements have enhanced the Congolese doctor international reputation. In Melun in France, a school was renamed “Denis Mukwege School». Also, in Mignaloux-Beauvoir, a street will soon bear the name of the Congolese national doctor. Doctor Mukwege is a man of unprecedented circumstances; at the end of his medical studies at the University of Bujumbura in 1989; he returned to the Republic of Zaire, his country. He was hired at the Lemera hospital where he would later become Medical Director. At the beginning of the 1996 rebellion that ousted Mobutu from power, the doctor was on duty to save lives. While he was taking a patient to the city of Bukavu for better care, Lemera was attacked and the hospital was not spared by the rebels. The staff and about thirty patients died from bullets by the killers and torturers. The patient’s evacuation had saved his life, a premonition of a future that would be heavily burdened and painful for him, but which he managed with love and sacrifice. Bukavu was in orbit as rebels’ next target, Nairobi did serve as a settling venue after fleeing Bukavu due to war but rescue came to his aid from a Swedish charity called PMU – Pingstmissionens Utvecklingssamarbete. The latter contributed to the construction of the Panzi hospital in Bukavu in 1999. It was the beginning of repeated ordeals for him and the victims, but he never gave up despite horrendous hardships along the way, for more than 25 years.

Moved and in tears, who would have believed that a doctor would not be emotionally immune to the striking contrast that Mukwege witnessed on a daily basis? The cases of rape assault with extreme violence and genital mutilation of women were humanly unbearable, but he never flinched. Instilling fear among the population was one of the persuasion means to entice people to support the rebellion. This is how gang rape was used as a weapon of war. Faced with this terrible reality, Denis Mukwege expanded the hospital capacity by setting up additional premises within the Panzi hospital for increased  medical care to women victims of inaudible but visual sexual assaults. This atrocious violence, which was growing in crescendo, pushed him to take the patients voice to Congolese authorities for a macabrely horrifying assessment. Spokesperson for the voiceless female masses, Dr Denis Mukwege knocked on the doors of international bodies to advocate his plea on behalf of these women victims of appalling sexual acts in Grand Kivu.

Prior to his Nobel Prize winning, Dr Denis, the Women’s Repairer, had escaped a deadly attack  on October 25, 2012. That day in Bukavu, his daughters were held hostage while by assailants,  waiting for Doctor  home return. The house security guard, having assessed the threat and danger on the Doctor and his family, confronted the armed men who shot him in cold blood. The attackers fled in the family vehicle, which was found abandoned 24 hours later.  Neighbours intervention was beneficial for him in escaping from the clutches of these criminals. Mukwege had been forced to go into exile for a few months in Belgium and the United States, abandoning his patients to their sad fate. But cries from his patients echoed in the Repairer’s eardrums; 3 months later, he came out of his exile and made a triumphant comeback to Panzi under the protection of the MONUSCO guard. This guard was withdrawn from him in 2020 due to Covid-19. It was restored upon established evidence that a Rwandan officer was attempting to kill him.

Nobel Peace Prize, Doctor Mukwege was the Sakharov Prize winner in 2012. The following year, he made a plea to European parliamentarians for better regulation for import and European consumption of minerals from conflict zones in DRC. Both the European Commission and the European Parliament adopted regulations in this regard in March 2017. Dr Mukwege lives in the precinct of the Panzi hospital under the protection of UN (MONUSCO) brigade because of several threats against his life. These threats did not stop him from endeavouring dynamics to help neighbouring communities. In 2017, Dr Mukwege met with the board of directors of the Pierre Fabre Foundation. The advocacy he developed, consisted of Panzi model’s replication for Bulenga hospital, 165 km from Panzi. The overall model of care for victims in Panzi to be copied   for Bulenga, would allow inhabitants of this difficult-to-access district and very poor area to have access to drinking water. The improvement of facilities in Bulenga, according to Dr Denis Mukwege, would strengthen the hospital’s capacity to offer quality care to its population at very low prices or free of charge. Women victims of sexual violence and those suffering from the consequences of a lack of pregnancy monitoring such as prolapse and obstetric fistulas would no longer be left to fend for themselves in Bulenga.

Dr Mukwege’s short experience in politics during the December 2023 presidential election in DRC left him with a taste of bitterness. For a while, the national doctor had left the Hippocratic Oath for the political tunic during the election campaign. He aspired to the solemnity of the one (oath) he hoped to take in the event of victory. Failure did not succeed in stripping this scientist of his scientific achievements recognized in the high international sphere. In August 2024, during an interview granted by the Head of State to a local station in Europe, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi was full of praise in recognizing the fair play of the Doctor whom he cited by name despite his status as an opponent to his regime. He has learned so much that, on the eve of talks between the Congolese government and M23, in Luanda under the mediation of Angolan President Lourenco, his conviction is vividly expressed that the diagnosis of the Congolese problem with regards to the war in the East, is poorly achieved. In Dr Mukwege’s opinion, a feasibility study should be conducted on the essence of such talks in order to determine their ins and outs, as a prelude to bilateral negotiations that would lead to the holding of an International Conference for Peace in the DRC. He furthers his reflection by emphasizing the involvement of several countries in the warlike crisis in the DRC, the complicity of international financiers, against the backdrop of strategic minerals contained in the Congolese subsoil. Apart from countries already involved in the Congo’s war, there are international and regional bodies that are also playing their part. The African Union, SADC, and the AEC complete the list of foreign actors in the conflict, even though the DRC is a signatory to their charters; the list includes, apart from DRC and Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Kenya. As for MONUSCO, which serves as a bridge between the enemy brothers, its impartiality has always been questioned. The inertia in implementing the Addis Ababa Framework Agreement is deplorable; this agreement needs to be revisited and revitalized. Such revitalization would imply, according to Dr Mukwege, an adaptation of an international framework that would restructure debates in relation to realities on the ground. To proceed in an uncontrolled and hasty manner would amount to treating symptoms more than causes. The novelty of UN Security Council Resolution 2773 would not be an obstacle to ensuring its implementation, for which the ceasefire remains the basis of serenity in any debate. Dr Mukwege’s warning regarding ongoing dialogue should be weighed; holding a dialogue with M23 would be a tacitly official legitimization of the aggression and illegal occupation of certain provinces in DRC. By warning decision-makers against past errors, the Panzi doctor contemplates a certain compromise that would jeopardize the right of the Congolese people to self-determination and to live in peace.

Dr Mukuwege is the model of a character who does not put himself at the centre of it all, he rather favours the interests of others in contrario. Dr Denis Mukwege is not fond of weak echoes crushed by recuperative and horizontal speeches, and by treacherous spectacles which sully true memory.