The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has defended the actions of the security forces during the riots registered last Friday in Kinshasa, within the framework of a sit-in called by the opposition to reject a possible reform of the Constitution that, they claim, would pave the way for President Félix Tshisekedi to remain in office beyond 2028.
Opposition parties claimed that at least two people died and that three of their main figures were injured as a result of the joint intervention of the Police and pro-government supporters, who allegedly dispersed the demonstrators with blows and without fear of reprisal. Three key leaders of the opposition platform Coalition Article 64 (C64), Delly Sessanga, Jean-Marc Kabund and, especially, Martin Fayulu, a former presidential candidate, ended up taking refuge in the headquarters of the latter's party, Commitment for Citizenship and Development (ECIDE).
The provincial Executive has flatly rejected Fayulu's casualty report. "According to the initial data available, there were no fatalities, twenty minor injuries, including fifteen police officers and five demonstrators, as well as about five burned vehicles," the statement indicated.
The authorities hold the organizers of the protest responsible for having "ignored the conditions established by the municipal authorities by unexpectedly changing the previously agreed route," and they also reproach them for "recruiting unemployed people, sometimes under the influence of prohibited substances, equipping them with bladed weapons and placing them on the front line to provoke law enforcement officers and carry out acts of provocation."
These clashes occur in a context already marked by a succession of crises that have hit the country from different fronts: to the growing political confrontation is added a new outbreak of Ebola with the risk of becoming an epidemic, aggravated by the persistent violence in the north and northeast of Congolese territory.
It is worth remembering that, at the beginning of May, Tshisekedi showed himself willing to consider a scenario that would allow him to run for a third term through a modification of the Magna Carta and even a possible postponement of the elections. "I have not asked for a third term, but I tell you this: if the people want me to have a third term, I will accept it," he declared at a press conference from the capital.