DRC peace summit starts as fighting continues

JOSEPH Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has opened a three-day peace conference in Congo’s Kasai region where thousands have died following ongoing fighting between government troops and militias.

Kabila declared at the opening of the conference on Tuesday in Kananga that justice had to be served but blamed the violence on “terrorist militia” and warned that all involved in the violence would have to answer for their crimes.

The violence in the volatile Kasai region began in August 2016 following the death of militia leader Kamwina Nsapu at the hands of Congolese troops.

As the fighting flared, more than 3 300 people were killed and according to the UN more than 1.4 million displaced.

Meanwhile, registering to vote began last week with Congo’s electoral commission reporting a delay in registering for the polls in Kasai.

This means that the repeatedly delayed presidential elections will not be taking place this year despite an agreement reached between the government and the opposition to hold an election at the end of the year.

The repeated delays are feeding into opposition accusations that Kabila keeps delaying the vote to stay in power despite his mandate ending last December. This also means further political tensions in the Kasai region, which is a stronghold of opposition to Kabila, despite the launching of the peace process there.

The UN reports that there are approximately 80 mass graves in the area.

It also says Congolese military were responsible for at least half of these deaths despite Kinshasa blaming the mass graves on the Kamwina Nsapu militia.