Felix tshisekedi
DR Congo's Tshisekedi silences doubters with political gains
With a string of tactical victories, DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has defied naysayers who saw him as a weak politician living in the shadow of a famous...
The violence followed months of tension over the fragile coalition between President Felix Tshisekedi, who took over in January 2019 after Joseph Kabila's 18-year rule, and his predecessor's party, which holds a parliamentary majority.
The violence follows a months-long crisis rooted in a troubled coalition forged by Tshisekedi and the pro-Kabila Common Front for the Congo (FCC), which commands an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly.
The announcement came after the failure of a coalition with supporters of predecessor Joseph Kabila who currently wield a majority in parliament.
President Felix Tshisekedi is due to unveil new decisions on Sunday on the simmering tensions pitting his supporters against those loyal to his powerful predecessor Joseph Kabila.
The United Nations has sounded a warning about a brewing political crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a long-running impasse between President Felix Tshisekedi and supporters of his predecessor Joseph Kabila has reached a crucial point.
Tensions have erupted into the open, forcing Tshisekedi to launch consultations last month on how to proceed on key issues, including national security, the management of state assets, the independence of the judiciary and the organisation of elections.
Even after giving over power to Tshisekedi, Kabila remains the driving force in his Common Front for Congo political group – a veritable war machine that he set up before leaving office.
The surge in violence has lead to deadly protests against the army and UN peacekeepers for failing to protect them.
Since taking office in January after a disputed election, President Felix Tshisekedi has promised to clean up the corruption he said proliferated under his predecessor Joseph Kabila.
The Democratic Republic of Congo announced a coalition government Monday, seven months after the inauguration of new President Felix Tshisekedi.
Tshisekedi was elected in December to replace Kabila who presided over sub-Saharan Africa's biggest country for nearly two decades.
Pascal Kakoraki Baguma, a national lawmaker from Ituri, said the latest violence was sparked by the killing last Monday of four Lendu businesspeople.
Citing popular uprisings in Algeria and Sudan, he told a meeting of several thousand supporters in Kinshasa the Congolese could achieve the same thing.
Hamstrung by a parliament and local officials in the sway of Joseph Kabila, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi has largely failed to exert his authority.
It is surpassed only by the 2013-2016 outbreak in West Africa, in which more than 28,000 cases were reported and more than 11,000 people died.
Delphin Mbirimbi, a local activist in South Kivu province, told Reuters that the boat, which had departed from neighbouring North Kivu province, wrecked on the lake near Kalehe territory.
The new president of the Democratic Republic of Congo asked for US assistance to help lift his vast country out of a decades-long crisis during a visit to Washington on Thursday.
Tshisekedi's party is working to cobble together a coalition government with the party of former president Joseph Kabila, which won a majority of seats in parliamentary elections.