One person died at a protest on Tuesday against the arrival of the “pro-Kabila” candidate in a city in central Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), days ahead of elections that are to see the country emerge from the 17-year rule of Congolese President Joseph Kabila.
The unrest in Tshikapa, a city in the restive central Kasai region, also saw the presidential party’s headquarters being ransacked, witnesses said.
Details of how the victim died in Tshikapa were still emerging, but one local non-governmental organization (NGO) said that soldiers had opened fire to disperse protesting crowds in the city and shot a woman in the head.
Photo: AP
Another local source confirmed the death, but gave no details of how the victim was killed.
There was no immediate official confirmation from local authorities.
The violence comes after at least one other person was killed and more than 80 injured in weekend clashes in the city, the latest unrest in the buildup to Sunday’s ballot.
“The soldiers, who were supporting the police, opened fire to disperse the demonstrators. A woman who was selling embers at the Sokajik market was hit in the head,” said the head of a Congolese NGO, which was on site.
A campaign trip by “pro-Kabila” candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, former Congolese minister of the interior and security, and a close ally of the president, was canceled after the violence.
“The candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary will reschedule the visit to Tshikapa tomorrow or the day after tomorrow after assessing the security situation,” one of his relatives said.
Images of the raided presidential offices were widely shared on social media.
Video posts also showed hundreds of young people, some armed with sticks, marching and chanting against the arrival of Ramazani Shadary.
“At the moment, the city is paralyzed. Only armed soldiers and police are moving, but there are groups of young people who want to confront the security forces,” said Fabien Ngweshi, a journalist based in Tshikapa.
A number of people have been killed in pre-election violence since the beginning of campaigning on Nov. 22.
A civil rights group, the Congolese Association for Access to Justice, said in a statement that 10 people have died.
Twenty-one candidates are running to replace 47-year-old Kabila, who has ruled the mineral-rich nation since the assassination of his father in 2001.
Western governments are closely watching the election violence and vote outcome, as the country has never seen a peaceful transfer of power since independence from colonial Belgium in 1960.
ETHNIC VIOLENCE
The focus on the election comes as authorities reported at least 45 deaths since Sunday in ethnic violence in western DR Congo, sparking a massive exodus of refugees to Brazzaville in the neighboring Republic of the Congo.
“The violence started on the night of 15, 16 December ... the provisional toll is 45 dead and more than 60 injured,” Mai-Ndombe Province Governor Gentiny Ngobila said.
“The violence is not linked to the electoral campaign under way in the country. It is a conflict between two communities,” he said.
An official in the neighboring country said that 4,358 refugees have arrived in an area about 300km north of Brazzavile.
“Today [Tuesday] we have recorded three deaths: two children, one and three years old, from their wounds, and a woman,” said Francois Ntsuini, sub-prefect of Makotimpoko in the Plateaux region. “We also received 53 wounded, mostly with shotgun wounds. They are currently being treated.”
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