Bemba returns to DR Congo

Thousands gather to welcome former warlord

After more than 11 years abroad – a decade of it behind bars – former DR Congo warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba returned home on Wednesday to huge crowds and police firing teargas, reflecting the country’s high-voltage political mood.

Bemba, 55, throwing down the gauntlet to his rival President Joseph Kabila, has vowed to contest twicedelayed elections due to take place on December 23.

He landed at Kinshasa from Belgium aboard a private plane after the International Criminal Court (ICC) acquitted him of war-crimes charges in June.

Tens of thousands of people gathered along the city’s main highway, prompting police to fire teargas to try to make a path for his open-topped Mercedes, an AFP reporter saw.

The crowd is the Democratic Republic of Congo’ s largest politically related gathering intwoy ears–since 2016, Kabila has cracked down heavily on protests.

Analysts say Bemba’s return throws even more uncertainty into an already volatile election. Candidates must submit their applications by August 8 and physically be in the country to do so.

The DRC has never known a peaceful transition of power since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960 – and some experts fear the current crisis may spiral into bloodshed.

Two wars unfolded from 1996-97 and from 1998-2003 that sucked in other countries in central and southern Africa. Smaller, but still bloody, conflicts dog the center and east of the vast country today.

Kabila, 47, took over from his father, Laurent-Desire Kabila, after he was assassinated by a bodyguard in 2001.

His regime has a long reputation for corruption, inequality and unrest.

Kabila was scheduled to stand down at the end of 2016 after his second elected term, technically the last permitted under the constitution.

But he has stayed in office, invoking a constitutional clause enabling him to stay in power until a successor is elected.

He has refused to spell out whether he will seek a new term. Political sources say he has been lately scouting around for a favorable candidate that he could support, which would enable him officially to step down.

Dozens have died in anti-Kabila protests amid the mounting political uncertainty.

The influential Roman Catholic Church has called for three days of popular mobilization on August 12-14 should Kabila announce a re-election bid.