Unrest erupts in DRC as Kabila’s mandate expires
GUNFIRE was heard in the two largest cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the opposition called on citizens to reject President Joseph Kabila, whose mandate expired yesterday with no sign he was ready to leave.
With fears of fresh violence high in the vast and unstable nation, shots rang out in the capital Kinshasa and there was sustained gunfire in the country’s second city of Lubumbashi.
There was also drama in Pretoria yesterday when police fired rubber bullets to disperse scores of protesters outside the DRC embassy. They are also demanding that Kabila step down.
Kinshasa ground almost to a halt, with people staying at home as groups of youths burnt tyres and built barricades on the streets.
Dozens of troop carriers patrolled the city of 10 million people, while police and paramilitaries were out in force in other cities.
Tensions have been soaring ahead of the end of Kabila’s mandate, with the international community warning of violence.
France called on the authorities to respect human rights after the clashes erupted.
The 45-year-old Kabila, who has ruled since 2001, is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, but under a controversial recent Constitutional Court order, may stay on until a successor is chosen.
Witnesses said the streets of Lubumbashi’s Matuba neighbourhood were strewn with rocks and burnt tyres amid a heavy police presence.
Authorities in the city claimed that police were forced to fire into the air to disperse civilians, because some protesters were armed.
Nine people have been killed in various regions, down from original estimates of 20 dead.
National police spokesman Colonel Pierre-Rombaut Mwanamputu was unable to give an immediate toll after the violence. “Fortunately, we are not back to the slaughter of September,” he said, referring to September’s bloodshed when at least 53 antiKabila protesters died in two days of protests.
As the clock ticked on yesterday’s end-of-mandate deadline, crowds had gathered before midnight to blow whistles and beat on improvised drums, calling on Kabila to quit.
State television announced overnight the formation of a new government in line with an October deal between the ruling party and tiny fringe opposition groups to leave Kabila in office pending elections in April 2018.
But the main opposition bloc has rejected the plan.