Kabila
With the active support from church activists and opposition political parties, protesters have braced the bullets from the police and soldiers to protest in the Democratic Republic of Congo against President Joseph Kabila’s continued stay in office in violation of a 2016 peace deal that required he steps down by the end of 2017.
An election to replace him has now been delayed until December 2018. Reports say at least six persons, including two men shot outside a church in the capital Kinshasa and a police officer had been killed.
According to the BBC, the authorities in Kinshasa banned the protest there, saying they did not have the resources to police it.
Police roadblocks have been in place since Saturday. The security forces have also used tear gas and live ammunition to prevent protesters from gathering at several locations, including churches.
About 50 people were arrested in Kinshasa and seven people were hurt by gunfire, Reuters quoted human rights activist Georges Kapiamba as saying.
A police spokesman denied the security forces had used live ammunition. He said protesters had been arrested for barricading roads and setting tyres on fire.
Mr Kabila has been in power since 2001. He was supposed to step down after his second and final term came to an end in 2016 but the vote to replace him was not held.
The failure to organise the polls led to a wave of deadly demonstrations by opposition supporters. The UN says dozens of people have been killed during anti-government protests over the past year.
A deal to create a transitional government brokered by the Catholic church collapsed because the government and the opposition were unable to agree on the power-sharing mechanism.
