Churches lead protests against Kabila as security forces kill civilians
At least six people died when security forces clashed with antigovernment protesters in the Democratic Republic of Congo capital on Sunday, the United Nations said.
Police and soldiers fired teargas and live rounds to disperse thousands of Catholic worshippers as they left Sunday morning services in Kinshasa and tried to march to protest against President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down. Similar scenes played out at parishes in several other Congolese cities.
Local authorities had refused to authorise the demonstrations, while organisers said they did not require permission. On Saturday, many roadblocks manned by the police and the military were set up as both text messaging and internet services were cut. There was a heavy security presence outside Catholic churches on Sunday morning.
UN Mission in Congo spokeswoman Florence Marchal said at least six civilians were killed in Kinshasa. A further 57 people were injured nationwide, including 20 in Kinshasa, and 111 were arrested throughout Congo, she said. Bloomberg saw two priests and several others being beaten and then detained in the Kinshasa district of Bandalungwa.
Police spokesman Col Pierrot Mwanamputu said on state television on Sunday night that police dispersed “delinquents” and “thugs” to protect the population. He said two civilians were shot dead in Kinshasa and nine police officers were injured, two seriously.
Similar clashes three weeks ago left at least 12 people dead according to the Lay Coordination Committee, a group of Catholic activists, who called for a protest on New Year’s Eve to demand Kabila’s departure.
Kabila, who has led Africa’s biggest copper producer since 2001, was supposed to step down at the end of his second term in December 2016 after an election to find his successor. That vote was delayed and Kabila remained in office, sparking protests in which dozens of people were killed by security forces. The central African nation, which gained independence from Belgium almost six decades ago, has never had a peaceful transfer of power.
In November, the electoral commission published a new schedule fixing presidential and parliamentary polls for December 23 2018, but the main opposition groups, which back the marches, have rejected the calendar. They insist Kabila leave power to make way for an interim head of state during a transition period.
While not involved in organising the marches, the leadership of the Catholic Church has adopted an increasingly assertive tone against the government. The church brokered an agreement between Kabila’s political coalition and opposition parties on New Year’s Eve in 2016. The deal permitted the president to remain in power an extra year as long as his supporters did not try to change the constitution and elections were held in 2017.
That agreement was “violated” by Kabila’s government, Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo, the archbishop of Kinshasa, told reporters on January 2. At the same news conference, he condemned the “barbarism” deployed by security forces on December 31.
Congolese authorities have reacted angrily to the Catholic Church’s renewed assertiveness. Government spokesman Lambert Mende said in early January that Monsengwo had shown “an attitude of contempt and rejection” and accused the church of being “a zealous auxiliary to Belgian colonisation”.
A leader of Congo’s protestant churches, which are more closely allied to Kabila than the Catholic clergy, has also criticised the government. At a service, Pastor Francois-David Ekofo addressed a congregation including members of the Kabila family, saying “the state doesn’t really exist”. He called for a state in which everyone was equal before the law.