Format: Zoom Webinar
Date: Thursday, 30 October 2025
Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM EAT
What do everyday police practices reveal about the nature of the state in the Democratic Republic of Congo and beyond? A new open-access book by Michel Thill offers the first full-length, empirical deep dive into policework in the DRC, while also developing a nuanced framework for understanding policing and reform in fragile and hybrid state contexts globally.
Following officers from the classroom to the station and the street, Michel Thill traces the daily realities of Congolese police officers and reveals how the police force, as an institution, struggles to reconcile training with practice, coercion with persuasion and reconciliation and the pressures of economic survival with the duty to serve the public. By unpacking the layered and often contradictory effects of police reform, Thill brings to light the tensions that shape everyday policework. In doing so, he not only offers new ways of thinking about reform but also provides practical guidance for policymakers and practitioners navigating the challenges of institutional change.
On 30 October 2025, the Rift Valley Forum will host a panel discussion to explore the book’s key findings and reflect on their implications for understanding statehood, public authority and police reform in the DRC and other contexts.
Presenter
Dr Michel Thill
Senior Program Officer, Swisspeace & RVI Fellow
Discussants
Dr Judith Veirweijen
Assistant Professor, Utrecht University & RVI Fellow
Henri-Pacifique Mayala
Political Scientist & Researcher, Ebuteli & Kivu Security Tracker (KST) Coordinator
Moderator
Patrick Gathara
Journalist
Author’s biography
Michel Thill is a Senior Program Officer with swisspeace, a research and practice institute dedicated to peacebuilding. His research and writing explore everyday security and order-making processes, and how global policy translates into local practice, with a particular focus on the DR Congo. Michel holds a PhD in Political Science from Ghent University and is a Fellow of the Rift Valley Institute.
