‘Let’s find Freddy Wangabo Mwenengabo’

Editor’s note: After five-and-a-half months of being held captive in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Fredrick Wangabo Mwenengabo was released and returned home to his family in Fredericton on May 29, 2024.

Fredrick Wangabo Mwenengabo, a well known human rights activist based in Fredericton, has been held captive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since December 16, 2023.

Mwenengabo was on a humanitarian mission when he was kidnapped in Goma. His kidnappers are demanding US$ 13 million.

With the support of Mwenengabo’s sons, Fredericton MLA David Coon spoke about Mwenengabo in the New Brunswick Legislature on March 28. “Join me in urging the Canadian government to take urgent action to save his life,” stated Coon.

Mwenengabo’s sons notified provincial and federal governments shortly after their father’s disappearance. They told Radio-Canada that they received no support except from Green Party of New Brunswick Leader David Coon, calling the response deplorable.

Mwenengabo is a United Nations Ambassador and the Executive Director of the East and Central African Association for Indigenous Rights (ECAAIR). 

Mwenengabo has previously been arrested, kidnapped and tortured because of his human rights work.

On March 5, 2012, Mwenengabo launched a 48-day hunger strike to raise awareness about the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, forcing the Canadian government and Francophonie nations to take more serious measures in the peace process in Congo.

When he arrived in Canada in 2009, Mwenengabo worked in various roles with the Multicultural Association of Fredericton. Mwenengabo has also worked with Amnesty international, Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice, and Caritas International. He has also served as the Atlantic Council of International Cooperation’s Co-Chair. He has taught courses in anthropology and international development at the University of New Brunswick.

Mwenengabo has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2023, Coon presented Mwenengabo with a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal.

Tracy Glynn met Fredrick Wangabo Mwenengabo in 2012 when he spoke after the Cinema Politica screening of Blood in the Mobile, a film about how minerals extracted for cell phones is linked to war and violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.