The turmoil of the past days has paralyzed Kinshasa: schools and shops were closed, several buildings looted, public transport was interrupted and by the end of the clashes 17 people were killed: three policemen and 14 civilians, according to sources consulted by Fides.
The reason for the protests by numerous demonstrators was the failure by the current President of the DRC, Joseph Kabila, to call the presidential election. His mandate expires on 20 December. Since Kabila has already completed two terms and cannot run for a third mandate, it is feared that he wants to stay in power by exploiting a ruling by the Constitutional Court that in the interim period the outgoing Head of State remains in power. This is in violation of constitutional rules under which elections should be held within the 90 days preceding the end of the mandate.
In a statement released by the National Episcopal Conference of the Democratic Republic of Congo (CENCO) the bishops of the country announced their withdrawal from the national dialogue table convened by the President on account of the domestic political tensions, and they have made exclusion of the current president, Joseph Kabila, from the upcoming elections, "to be organized as soon as possible", a precondition of their return to the negotiating table.
"The blood of our innocent brothers and sisters paid in respect for the Constitution is crying out to us and we cannot fail to condemn violence "from any quarter". They call on all Congolese to feel "not enemies but brothers, compatriots of a State that we must build together."
