Basankusu collecting firewood by Francis Hannaway.jpg

Basankusu is a town in Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the main town and administrative centre of the Basankusu Territory. In 2004, it had an estimated population of 23,764. It has a gravel airstrip, covered and open markets, a hospital, and three cellphone networks, the first of which was installed in 2006. The town is also known as a centre for bonobo conservation efforts. Despite such developments, most inhabitants live at a subsistence level: hunting, fishing, keeping chickens and keeping a vegetable plot. In 2010, the workers at the local palm plantation would earn an average monthly salary of $40 (US dollars), most others would have much less. SNV Netherlands Development Organisation: Socio-economic Impact of palm oil producers in Basankusu territory – The result of organisation and structuring of associations, Democratic Republic of Congo. Jean Pierre USOTILA PIE adviser, Portfolio Equateur Province, RD Congo, Palm Oil, Agriculture

The location of the town on the Lulonga River, a tributary of the Congo, at the confluence of the Lopori and Maringa Rivers has contributed to its success as a centre for trade in the region. Set deep in tropical rainforest, the rivers serve as the highways for transport of people as well as goods.

Historically, Basankusu holds some stories of exploitation during the times of the Abir Congo Company but was also the gateway to much of Equateur Province for those individuals involved in the reforms which came from the Casement Report and the Berlin conference of 1884-5.

History

Origin of the name

The name ''Basankusu'' is said to have been misunderstood by its European explorers and colonisers, who lacked knowledge of the local language. The Mongo group that founded Basankusu were the Okutsu; their descendants were called the ''Basaa Okutsu'', meaning the "children of the Okutsu". This name was contracted slightly into the name ''Basaa'kutsu''.Correspondence between Lomboto Enkankale Honoré and Francis Hannaway. November 2010.

Another account of the etymology of ''Basankusu'' is that it comes from ''basa ba nkoso'', meaning "quarrelling parrots", or possibly ''Baasa bankoso'', "small parrots".

Abir Congo Company

:''See also Maringa-Lopori-Wamba Landscape and Abir Congo Company.''
Basankusu was the first trading post of the Abir Congo Company (ABIR) along the Congo River from Kinshasa (then known as Leopoldville), the capital of the Congo. Later known as the Compagnie du Congo Belge, the Abir Congo Company harvested natural rubber in the 19th and early 20th century. It was granted a large concession with the rights to tax the inhabitants, taken in the form of rubber. The collection system revolved around a series of trading posts along the two main rivers in the concession – the Lopori and the Maringa. Each post was commanded by a European agent and manned with armed sentries to enforce taxation and punish any rebels.The Crime of the Congo By Arthur Conan Doyle London: Hutchinson & Co., 1909.

ABIR would sell a kilogram of rubber in Europe for up to 10 francs (fr), which cost them only 1.35 fr to collect and transport. However, this came at a cost to the human rights of those who could not pay the tax, with imprisonment, flogging, and other corporal punishments recorded.

The Casement Report comprises a multitude of individual statements gathered by the British Consul, Roger Casement, including several detailing the grim tales of killings, mutilation, kidnapping, and cruel beatings of the native population by soldiers of the Congo administration of King Leopold. The British Parliament demanded a second meeting of the 14 signatory powers of the 1885 Berlin Conference, at which time the Belgian Parliament forced a reluctant Leopold to set up an independent commission of enquiry. This led to the arrest and punishment of several officials who had been responsible for murders during a rubber-collection expedition in 1903. The reforms that followed the Casement Report, including those that concerned ABIR at Basankusu, set the foundation for the colonial Belgian state of Congo.

Cathedral

The original Roman Catholic cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, built by Jan de Koning, a brother in the Mill Hill Missionaries society, during World War II, Demolition in 2012; it was rebuilt to a very similar design. The new building used computer design technology, and used reinforced concrete in place of kiln-fired brick.It remains the tallest building in Basankusu. The Mill Hill Missionaries, and later with some support from the CICM Missionaries, supported the establishment of the Diocese of Basankusu, which has its episcopal seat at the cathedral.

On Sunday, October 21, 2018, ten bishops and a hundred priests concelebrated Mass at which Bishop Joseph Mokobe, Bishop of Basankusu, presided, for the inauguration of the newly rebuilt cathedral.

Geography

Basankusu is situated on the Lulonga River, a tributary of the Congo, at the confluence of the Lopori and Maringa Rivers. This location allows for transporting and receiving local goods to and from the cities of Mbandaka and Kinshasa. Because Basankusu is the last port of substance before the wilderness of the Lopori Basin, conservation efforts for the bonobo, use the town as a base.

Being slightly more than 1° north of the Equator, Basankusu has a tropical rainforest climate. There is no real dry season, with monthly rainfall in the town ranging between averages of 69 mm and 213 mm, with most months at the higher end of that range. Average high temperatures over a year are between 30 °C and 33 °C, although throughout the day a high of 37 °C is not uncommon. Evening lows average around 20 °C.

Being close to a major river and enduring frequent, heavy tropical rainfall, Basankusu is prone to the damaging effects of water. In July, 2010, the town was affected by flooding, with 1,400 people made homeless. Roads, which are all non-metalled, and bridges were also affected. Such frequent harsh weather conditions have an effect on the quality of life for local people. Waterborne diseases can become more prevalent, and the transport of goods, such as food, medicine, and trade goods, becomes more difficult.

Commerce

Basankusu is a centre for palm oil production and treatment. One company, Compagnie de Commerce et des Plantations (CCP), produces palm oil from plantations of African oil palms at nearby villages Lisafa and Ndeke. The factory at Lisafa is responsible for the treatment of the palm oil and production of soap. The plantation areas are as follows: 3,488 hectares (ha) of oil palms, and 372 ha given over to coffee. It is a major local employer, with almost 4,000 workers on its payroll. Although CCP is one of the successful businesses in the area, it is in dispute with village chiefs regarding land acquisition. In 2010, a worker would earn an average monthly salary of $40 (US dollars), depending on output.

Basankusu's distance from the capital Kinshasa and the recent upheaval due to the First and Second Congo Wars have made trade with the outside world difficult. However, the distribution of local products, such as maize, cassava, rice, palm oil, peanuts, and rubber, is starting to increase as more river-boats make the journey from the capital.

The frustration of local producers was brought to the attention of the press by Mlle Jeanne-Marie Abanda, Director of Caritas Basankusu, when she explained their difficulties in December 2009: The same information is reported by the Congolese Control Office (Office Congolais de Controle).

Jef Dupain, an African Wildlife Foundation (AWF)African Wildlife Foundation
primatologist, who has spent more than a decade on the frontlines in the Congo working with bonobos, has also stated the devastating impact a lack of transport for trade has on conservation: "You can't just tell the local people not to eat bushmeat. You're not taken seriously." Because of this, an AWF-funded cargo barge, the ''Ferbo I'', now travels up and down the Congo and Maringa Rivers in the Congo to collect agricultural products from local farmers.AWF funded barge 'Ferbo' breaks down and leaves passengers stranded

Communication and transportation

The isolated situation of the town makes communication with the wider world challenging. During the military conflict of 1998–2003, Basankusu was in rebel (Movement for the Liberation of Congo, MLC) hands and cut off from trade and relief from the rest of the world.

The roads within Basankusu are non-metalled and prone to erosion from the frequent, torrential downpours. Roads to other towns and villages are also non-metalled; their condition has continued to decline since the country's independence from Belgium in 1960. The metal Bailey bridges, which span ravine

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