Write your story: Unrest in Kinshasa
Tuesday, January 20, 2015There has been unrest in Kinshasa and in other parts of the country over the last 2 days. With elections coming up next year there has already been lots of speculation about what the current president will do. It is written in the constitution that he must step down after 2 terms which means that come 2016 election that he would let someone else take his place. He has not outright said that he will change the constitution but instead wants a census to be done of the country before the next election... Which could literally take years.
In so doing will dely the election and extend his current term. So as usual with Congo there is no easy answers. There have been many forign delegations here over the last year asking... urging President Kabila to step down at the end of his term.
Some of the violence has been directed toward the Chinese, unfortunately because the rumour going around is that it is the Chinese that are funding Kabila... Is this true? I have no idea, but because of that a few Chinese run shops have been looted over the last 2 days.
However do not worry, we are safe and sound and everything in our area of town is calm, most people are just being wise and keeping their heads down.
We do not expect to run into any problems but if you could just take some time and pray for Congo this week. As one of our workers said today 'il écrie son histoire', he (Kabila) is writing his story... Now just what kind of story it will be, remains to be seen.
Thank you so much for your love and your prayers. This is a very politically confusing place that live in, but we know that God asks us to
- “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
Imagine if those with political influence did those 2 things. These things entreat us to value the things he created; the earth and those who fill it alike. If we love God first we will let the fruits of his spirit shine through us
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Below is a article providing some events and details from before the unrest started yesterday.
Governor of Congo mining province loses party post in rift with president
Source: Reuters - Tue, 6 Jan 2015 21:33 GMT
Author: Reuters
* Governor had been among President Kabila's key backers
* Made thinly veiled criticism of Kabila in speech
* Provincial police and intelligence chiefs also removed
By Bienvenu-Marie Bakumanya
KINSHASA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Moise Katumbi, the powerful governor of Democratic Republic of Congo's copper-producing Katanga province, has been removed as regional head of the ruling party, political sources said, highlighting a deepening rift with President Joseph Kabila.
Local police and intelligence chiefs have also been summoned to the capital Kinshasa, senior officials said, in an apparent attempt to limit the political fallout following Katumbi's return to Congo after a lengthy absence due to illness.
Katumbi has long been considered a pillar of Kabila's Katanga-centred power base.
But he made a speech in Katanga late last month that was seen as a thinly veiled attack on Kabila, who has been in power since 2001 and under Congo's constitution is required to step down in 2016 at the end of his second term.
Couching his criticism in football references, Katumbi urged his supporters to challenge Kabila's right to score a "third penalty" against Congo, a vast mineral-rich country of around 70 million people blighted by conflicts and corruption.
Katumbi's remarks represent the highest-profile challenge to a possible third term from within Kabila's own People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD).
Katumbi is one of the few political figures with nationwide appeal due in part to his ownership of one of Congo's top football teams and could mount a major challenge for the presidency if he were to run in next year's polls.
HOLDING ON?
Political analysts and opposition leaders expect Kabila to attempt to stay in office beyond 2016 by either revising the constitution or delaying the elections.
In a meeting with Katanga local chiefs on Monday, Kabila sought to play down his ambitions, saying he would not be distracted from the task of governing by speculation about the 2016 election.
Kabila took power in 2001 after his father, Laurent, was assassinated in the middle of a conflict between the government and rebels that had sucked in regional armies and killed millions of Congolese.
He steered Congo to post-war elections in 2006 and won re-election in 2011, although the second vote was marred by complaints of widespread irregularities.
Some opposition activists across Africa have been emboldened to oppose their rulers by events in Burkina Faso, where protesters ousted President Blaise Compaore last October after he sought to extend his 27-year rule.
But African governments have also been quick to quell copycat protest movements.
On Tuesday, Martin Fayulu, president of a Congolese opposition party, said several of his supporters had been arrested while calling for an anti-government protest. (Additional reporting by Aaron Ross; Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Joe Bavier and Gareth Jones)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/06/us-congodemocratic-governor-idUSKBN0KF21620150106
1 comments
Praying specifically today for peace and love to reign in Kinshasa and all over the Congo, for the powers of darkness to recede as the Light shines brighter. May the true story that is written prove to be HIS story.
ReplyDelete-Esther S.