DR Congo President Joseph Kabila. He succeeded his assassinated father
Laurent Kabila in 2001 and refused to step down at the end of his second
and final term in December 2016. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The Democratic Republic of Congo is facing increased violence
with the rise of militia groups taking on government forces as it
becomes clear that elections set for December are unlikely.
Already
about 3,500 Congolese fleeing the violence arrived in Burundi midweek
and are settling in Rumonge and other provinces in the countryside.
President
Joseph Kabila had told the world that the country would hold the
elections, delayed by two years, on December 23, 2018. However, chairman
of the Independent National Electoral Commission Corneille Nangaa
announced that it would not be possible to hold elections until 2023.
Opposition
groups say President Kabila, who was constitutionally supposed to leave
office in December 2016, must leave as soon as possible because his
continued stay in office was a recipe for violence and instability.
Last appeal
Representatives
of the opposition groups had said the January 21 demonstration
organised by the Catholic Church would be the last appeal to President
Kabila to leave, after which they would consider other options.
There are about 150 armed groups in Congo, mostly in the east.
“Since
Kabila did not listen to our appeals during the demonstrations on
January 21, we are now organising all armed groups to remove him because
he did not respect the constitutional term limit. We gave him one more
year to organise elections but he has done nothing,” David Mialano
Tangania, an opposition leader living in exile in Kenya, told The EastAfrican.
Dr Tangania said President Kabila had ignored all entreaties to offer him an honourable exit.
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