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Anti-Kabila Protest Descends into Violence

By William Clowes September 19, 2016

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a protest against the president Monday descended into violence. Wire agencies are reporting at least two policemen killed, including one whose body was allegedly burned. The demonstrators say President Joseph Kabila must step down when his term ends in December.

The singing quickly devolved into angry chants. "Kabila must go," the protesters yelled.

People built barricades to block roads and burned tires and vehicles in the pro-opposition neighborhood of Limete. By 7:30 a.m., police were firing sporadic tear gas grenades.

A man told VOA that "We see that all the Congolese are here to reclaim the rule of law. I am a young Congolese and we need a change. We need elections within the constitutional timeframe. We will chase Kabila from the country by force."

Several thousand opposition supporters were gathering in Limete and at other points around Kinshasa. The plan was to march around the city before a delegation of 50 opposition leaders delivered a petition to the electoral commission. The Kinshasa governor had authorized the plan.

Instead, the situation quickly became tense and chaotic. Opposition leaders say police intimidated their supporters, dispersing them as they gathered and blocking their approach to the central meeting place.

At mid-day, riot police and soldiers were stationed on the road leading to that meeting place near the parliament building. VOA saw security forces stopping at least six people who looked to be foreign observers and loading them into vehicles.

An opposition leader told VOA by phone that he and others were penned in one of their party headquarters and unable to leave.

A Congolese government spokesman told AFP news the government decided to cancel the demonstration after supporters of veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi murdered two policemen in Limete.

Georges Kapiamba, the president of the Congolese Association for Access to Justice, told VOA that his team saw the bodies of seven people who witnesses said were killed by live rounds fired by the security forces.

Monday marks the day the DRC's electoral process should have kicked off ahead of November polls. But the electoral commission now says the polls should be pushed off until 2018. It says time is needed to compile a new voter list.

The leaders of the opposition coalition known as the Rassemblement, or the Assembly, say President Kabila is deliberately delaying polls to give him time to change the constitution so he can run for a third term.

Kabila has not spoken publicly on the subject, though some of his supporters have called for a referendum to remove term limits.

Across town behind closed doors, the government and a smaller faction of the opposition are thrashing out an agreement over election dates. Participants in that dialogue have raised the possibility of an interim power-sharing government when Kabila's mandate expires in December but have given no details.

The Rassemblement has dismissed the dialogue as a sham and boycotted it.