In the city of Bukavu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Alain Mukumiro argues in a small wooden hut with a shopkeeper who refuses to take his money.
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Like many in the rebel-controlled city, Mukumiro is using older, hole-punched banknotes that have been patched up and put back into circulation because of a shortage of new and intact bills.
“All my money has serial numbers, but they refuse it,” Mukumiro said, upset about his ordeal.
Mukumiro, a fridge technician, said his family faces yet another night without food, like many in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.
The Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group captured the city in February following an escalation of fighting between the insurgents and Congolese forces in the country’s mineral-rich east. Congolese authorities closed the city’s banks as the conflict intensified, leading to a shortage of cash in the region.
The perforated notes appear to be old bills that the banks intended to destroy to take them out of circulation. It is unclear how they went back onto the market, but residents suspect they were stolen from bank buildings during the rebel takeover.