GOVT REJECTS DRC DEMAND
ZAMBIA has refused to hand over Moise Katumbi’s brother, Soriano Kitanuka Abraham Katumbi to authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Soriano was pursued by Congo DR authorities up to the no-man’s land on the border between the two countries.
This was after Soriano successfully filed his presidential papers in Kinshasa for the crucial December 23 elections. After filing his presidential papers, he was told that the Congo DR authorities were looking for him. Soriano was pursued by Congolese soldiers up to the border at Kashiba in Mwense.
It was during the chase that he also lost his identity papers and other documents.
The Zambian government has refused to hand him back, and has granted him safe custody. “We have refused to surrender him since he is not a personal non grata.
His brother, Katumbi, the former governor of Katanga province was barred by the Congolese government from entering the country to file his presidential papers and has been stuck in Zambia since last week. Sixteen candidates, including three major opposition figures, have already submitted their names to the electoral commission. Among them are Felix Tshisekedi, 55, leader of DRC's oldest opposition party UDPS, and Jean-Pierre Bemba, 55, a former warlord recently acquitted by the International Criminal Court of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Meanwhile, President Joseph Kabila, ending months of speculation, has chosen former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary to be his successor in upcoming elections, the government said on Wednesday.
The announcement came just hours before the deadline for lodging applications for the December 23 election - a vote analysts say is crucial for the country's future. Ramazani Shadary, a Kabila loyalist, is permanent secretary of the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD).
He "will represent our political family in the presidential election," spokesperson Lambert Mende told a press conference. "We will all rally behind him." A country of some 80 million people, the Democratic Republic of Congo has never known a peaceful government transition since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Kabila, 47, has been in power for 17 years, taking over from his father, Laurent-Desire Kabila, who was killed by a bodyguard.
He should have stepped down at the end of 2016 when he reached a two-term limit.