As African cities grow, they experience challenging security issues. One of them is the emergence of youth gangs. Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is no exception. They appeared at the start of the 21st century as the product of the deep political, economic and social crisis of the late s. At that time, the economic decline and the state collapse led to a complete breakdown of law and order. In a period of anarchy and civil war, the street gangs emerged in the poorest slums of Kinshasa as a way to survive by any means possible.
Since then they have proliferated and institutionalised. Since the early s the Kuluna gangs have expanded into the capital city and are everywhere in Kinshasa except for the city centre, Gombe, where big businesses, ministries, and embassies are located. The structure of the street gangs is based on an informal hierarchy. This means that they attack the strangers passing in by but they do not target those who live there.
Gang fighting is the key to fame and glory and an essential part of the Kuluna way of life, almost as important as criminal activities β yet crime is only a way of getting food, alcohol and drugs. Despite a discourse describing them as living on the fringe of the society, the Kulunas are well integrated into their urban environment.
In addition, they have built ties with the security forces and the politicians of the city. The political parties generally use the Kuluna gangs as a workforce. Politicians hire them for various purposes, all related to the widespread use of violence in the political arena. But the most lucrative criminal partnerships of the Kuluna gangs is the one with the security forces.
Policemen and military officers are paid to turn a blind eye, and they are subcontracting some criminal activities mainly theft and robberies to the youth gangs. As a result of the cooperation between the police and Kuluna gangs, policemen go as far as helping some gangs to fight against their rivals and using their influence in case of arrest.
