The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) military said it had thwarted an “attempted coup” near the offices of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa involving “foreigners and Congolese.”
It happened in the early hours of Sunday outside the residence of Congolese Deputy Prime Minister of Economy Vital Kamerhe, in the Gombe area in the north of the capital, Kinshasa, near the Palais de la Nation that houses the president’s offices, a spokesman said.
“An attempted coup d’etat has been stopped by the defense and security forces,” said General Sylvain Ekenge in a message broadcast on national television.
Photo: AP
Shots were also heard near the Palais de la Nation at the time of the coup bid, a number of sources said.
Army spokesman General Sylvain Ekenge said that several Americans and a British man were part of the group involved in the operation.
The plot was led by Christian Malanga, a Congolese man who was a “naturalized American” and had been “definitively neutralized” — killed — by the security forces, Ekenge said in a broadcast on Sunday evening.
The group was made up of “several nationalities,” Ekenge said, adding that about 40 of the attackers had been arrested, and four, including Malanga, were killed.
“We also have a naturalized British subject, the number two of the group,” the spokesman added. Malanga’s son, Marcel Malanga, was also among the attackers, he said.
Kamerhe and his family were not harmed, but two police officers looking after them were killed, a source close to the minister said.
The group had reportedly planned to attack the home of new Congolese Prime Minister Judith Suminwa and the residence of Congolese Deputy Prime Minister of Defense Jean-Pierre Bemba, but they could not identify the home of Suminwa and had not been able to find Bemba at his residence.
After the attack at Kamerhe’s home, the group went to the Palais de la Nation, brandishing flags of Zaire, the name of the Democratic Republic of Congo under former president Mobutu Sese Seko, who was overthrown in 1997.
“I am shocked by the events this morning and very worried by the reports of American citizens allegedly being involved,” US Ambassador to the DR Congo Lucy Tamlyn wrote on X. “Rest assured that we are cooperating with authorities in DRC to the fullest extent possible, as they investigate these criminal acts and hold accountable any American citizen involved.”
During the day, certain streets near the Palais de la Nation remained closed to traffic, but the situation appeared calm, journalists reported.
Videos on social media showed men in fatigues at the Palais de la Nation, brandishing Zaire flags.
“The time has arrived, long live Zaire, long live the children of Mobutu,” a man who appeared to be the head of the group said, speaking Lingala
“Felix has fallen... We are victorious,” he added.
Agence France-Presse was unable to verify the videos.
Tshisekedi was re-elected at the end of December last year when he received more than 70 percent of votes in the first round. The parties backing him won about 90 percent of seats in the parliamentary elections held the same day, but he has yet to form a government.
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