Supporters for Jean-Pierre Bemba party 'Mouvement de liberation du
Congo' (MLC) gather in front of the party's office in Gemena, DR Congo,
on July 30, 2018. The former vice president has landed in Kinshasa after
an 11-year absence. AFP PHOTO | JUNIOR D. KANNAH
Former warlord and ex-vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba returned
to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday after an 11-year
absence, an AFP reporter saw.
Bemba, 55, arriving at
Kinshasa airport from Belgium aboard a private plane, has vowed to
contest the country's twice-delayed elections, due on December 23.
A few minutes after landing, Bemba, accompanied by his wife, went into a VIP suite at the airport.
Hundreds
of police clad in anti-riot gear were deployed in central Kinshasa and
at the airport, located 25 kilometres from the city.
In
June, Bemba was acquitted of war-crimes charges by the International
Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague after spending a decade behind bars.
Analysts
say his return adds volatility to an already tense election for which
candidates must submit their applications by August 8.
The DRC has never known a peaceful transition of power since it
gained independence in 1960 — and some experts fear that the December
elections may trigger a bloody conflict.
Kabila, 47,
has been at the helm since 2001, presiding over a vast mineral-rich
country with a reputation for corruption, inequality and unrest.
He
was scheduled to stand down at the end of 2016 after his second elected
term, technically the last permitted under the constitution.
But he has stayed in office, invoking a constitutional clause enabling him to stay in power until a successor is elected.
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