François-David "Franck" Ekofo Bonyeku is a Protestant pastor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was forced into exile after he publicly criticized President Joseph Kabila in January 2018.
[1] Ekofo ran afoul of the regime of Joseph Kabila when he delivered a sermon calling for political change and complaining about the failures of the Congolese state.
At a service on January 16, 2018, commemorating the 17th anniversary of the assassination of President Laurent Kabila, Ekofo asserted that, as in a relay race, it was time for the baton to be passed to another generation in Congo.
[2] The service, held in the Cathédrale du Centenaire, the leading church in the Church of Christ in Congo, was attended by President Kabila's wife Olive Lembe di Sita, Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala, Justice Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba and secretary general of the ruling party Henri Mova Sakanyi, among others.
[3] Immediately after delivering this sermon, Ekofo and his family received death threats.