Demonstrations against Kabila in Congo leave at least 6 dead

At least six people were killed on Sunday in the Democratic Republic of Congo during demonstrations across the country against delayed elections — and the de facto continuation of Joseph Kabila’s presidency. An additional 57 people were injured, and 111 were arrested across the country, according to Florence Marchal, a spokeswoman for the United Nations mission in Congo.
Djafari Akida, who witnessed the events in the capital, Kinshasa, said he had seen five bodies retrieved by the police at the church of St. Gabriel de Yolo, near the airport, where United Nations peacekeepers were present. He also said several churchgoers at the nearby parish of St. Joseph who had tried to join the demonstrations after Sunday Mass had been shot by the police. Eight people were wounded and taken to a nearby medical facility, he said.
It was the second demonstration in three weeks against Mr. Kabila, whose second presidential term officially expired in December 2016. Nine people died, 98 were injured, and nearly 200 were arrested in similar demonstrations on Dec. 31, according to Ms. Marchal.
In early 2017, Catholic leaders brokered an agreement allowing the president to lead a transitional government until the end of that year, when he was to step down and elections were to be held.
The election never happened — a vote is are now scheduled for the end of this year — and Mr. Kabila retains power, which most observers believe he will try to keep. In the past week, 100 civil society groups signed a joint letter supporting the march, and Protestant and Muslim leaders have joined their Catholic counterparts in open, if veiled, criticism of Mr. Kabila’s prolonged presidency. In a sermon to mark the anniversary of the death of Mr. Kabila’s father, former President Laurent-Désiré Kabila, a prominent religious figure framed the criticism in sporting terms.
“I like athletics,” the Rev. François-David Ekofo said in remarks broadcast live on national television. “I especially like a race — a relay race, where a person passes a baton to the second person, to the third person, to the fourth person.”
“In the history of a country, it is the same,” he added at the service, attended by Mr. Kabila’s wife and children, and by influential political figures.
Mr. Ekofo then went further, saying that the nation’s laws had generally not been respected, and that he believed the state — unable to meet its citizens’ basic needs despite an abundance of resources — no longer exists.
The country’s top Muslim leader, Sheikh Ali Mwinyi N’kuu, told a local news website, “If you have made a commitment to God and to men, you must know how to respect him.”