Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Human rights remain at threat in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Amnesty International said on Friday in a report issued a year to the day since the country underwent historic change. Militia violence, ethnic clashes and failure to hold rights abusers to account dog the …
Read More »ANALYSIS: A year after historic change, DR Congo struggles with ‘cohabitation’
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Friday marks a year since it began its first peaceful transition of power, but the road to the future is proving a bumpy ride. On January 24 2019, after election results that rivals bitterly contested, opposition leader Felix …
Read More »DR Congo scraps sentence against exiled opposition leader Moise Katumbi: lawyer
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A court in DR Congo has scrapped a three-year jail term against opposition leader Moise Katumbi, enabling him to return home from self-imposed exile in Belgium, his lawyer said Friday. The decision by the Court of Cassation — the supreme court of appeal — overturns …
Read More »DR Congo’s Tshisekedi, ex-president agree to form coalition
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s recently elected president, Felix Tshisekedi and his predecessor Joseph Kabila on Wednesday said they had decided to form a coalition government following talks. Despite Tshisekedi’s election — the first peaceful transition of power since the Democratic Republic of Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960 — the …
Read More »Party leaders sign loyalty pledge to ex-president Kabila
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo ex-president Joseph Kabila, who yielded power to Felix Tshisekedi after December elections, moved Wednesday to assert his political clout, making the leaders of his FCC coalition sign a loyalty pledge. Kabila’s Common Front For Congo remains the strongest force in parliament, …
Read More »DR Congo’s Tshisekedi holds coalition talks with Kabila
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s recently elected president, Felix Tshisekedi, held talks on Sunday with his predecessor Joseph Kabila on forming a coalition government, a source in Kabila’s entourage told AFP. The talks would open the way to naming a prime minister who would form a coalition government to run the country, …
Read More »Major DR Congo oil deal could be ‘void’: watchdog
Paris, France | AFP | A major deal allowing a company to drill for crude reserves in areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo bordering Africa’s largest protected rainforest may contravene the country’s own oil law, a watchdog said Friday. The transparency group Global Witness said that an agreement signed in …
Read More »‘Golden handshake’ for DR Congo’s outgoing ministers
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | In the weeks leading up to Democratic Republic of Congo’s controversial election, those leaving power quietly passed two decrees guaranteeing themselves money and benefits that would ensure their financial security for decades to come. Ministers in the outgoing government of now ex-president Joseph Kabila awarded …
Read More »Tshisekedi vows to act on human rights as DR Congo’s new president
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi vowed to enhance DR Congo’s respect for human rights on Thursday after he was sworn in as president, the country’s first-ever peaceful handover of power. Tshisekedi took the oath of office flanked by outgoing head of state Joseph Kabila, whose 18-year …
Read More »DR Congo’s disputed presidential election
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Felix Tshisekedi was sworn in as the Democratic Republic of Congo’s new president Thursday after an election fraught with delays and doubts. Here is a recap. – Two-year delay – After being postponed three times, the elections go ahead on December 30, 2018 to chose …
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