Tears flowed on Sunday as thousands of members of the Congolese diaspora paid their emotional last respects to opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, known affectionately as “papa,” who died in Brussels last week.
After a three-day funeral wake, Tshisekedi’s coffin was put on display for several hours in a large hall made available by city authorities, near the famous Atomium tourist attraction, journalists said.
Many waited in line for hours to get in and bow their heads in front of the casket, surrounded by wreaths of flowers and pictures of Tshisekedi, sporting his ever-present beret.
Photo: AFP
They came from across Belgium, but also traveled from France, Britain and Germany, to pay a final tribute to “Tshishi,” as his supporters called him.
“He is dead but his spirit remains among us. We will keep his heritage alive,” one man told the crowd through a microphone, drawing applause in a hall filled with a festive atmosphere and many tearful eyes.
“He is our icon,” added Armand Moke, who came from Dortmund, Germany. “He is a man who fought for some 30 years to establish democracy in our country.”
Photo: AFP
Pelagie, 50 and from Antwerp, Belgium, where she has lived for 10 years, added: “We have lost a real papa.”
“He is a hero. What he did for Congo, nobody can do,” she said, without hiding her concern. “Who is going to replace him?”
Tshisekedi died on Wednesday, having left the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) eight days earlier for medical care abroad. His death has plunged the vast African country further into uncertainty.
He played a key role in negotiations aimed at peacefully resolving the political crisis triggered by Congolese President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to leave power.
Kabila’s mandate ended on Dec. 20 last year, but he has vowed to remain in office until elections can be held to choose a successor.
Tshisekedi became a dissident in 1979-1980 when he denounced the arbitrary rule of Congolese president Mobutu Sese Seko, whom he had supported in gaining power after the country’s independence from Belgium in 1960.
He then led opposition to former Congolese president Laurent Kabila, who took office by force in 1997, followed by his son Joseph who became president after his father’s assassination in 2001.
Beaten in 2011 elections tainted by massive irregularities, Tshisekedi refused to recognize Kabila’s legitimacy to the very last.
“We invested a lot of hope in dialogue,” said Jean-Pierre Mukendi, a Congolese who has been a priest in the Brabant Wallon region of central Belgium for 17 years.
“We told ourselves that we were nearly at the end of the tunnel,” he said, adding: “We are going through a time of uncertainty, but we remain hopeful.”
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS