/ 6 December 2011

Violence erupts in DRC as tensions escalate

Violence Erupts In Drc As Tensions Escalate

Police fired teargas to disperse opposition supporters in Kinshasa as tensions were running high in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ahead of Tuesday’s expected announcement of the winner of last week’s polls.

The giant Central African country is on high alert after a campaign that saw deadly police crackdowns on opposition rallies and a series of clashes between rival partisans.

Observers have warned the announcement could spark new violence no matter who wins.

President Joseph Kabila, in power since 2001, led a divided opposition pack of 10 candidates with 46.4% after ballots from just over two-thirds of polling centres had been tallied, according to latest results issued on Tuesday.

His top challenger, veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, was trailing on 36.2%.

The DRC has been holding its breath since the November 28 vote, which was marred by chaos and rioting at polling stations and deadly rebel attacks in the south-eastern city of Lubumbashi.

Cat and mouse
About 20 000 soldiers are on standby at bases in Kinshasa, and convoys of large trucks packed with armed police carrying gas masks were seen on the capital’s unusually quiet streets.

Heavy police patrols fired teargas and repeatedly dispersed opposition supporters outside the headquarters of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), Tshisekedi’s party.

In a game of cat-and-mouse, about 50 supporters would gather and drag rocks into the road to barricade it, only to be chased away by police vehicles.

The city’s largest market had few vendors and fewer customers. Mungali, a shoe salesman, said the memory of the last elections in 2006 had made people stay home.

After those polls, security forces clashed with rebels loyal to Jean-Pierre Bemba, the loser of a run-off election against Kabila. His men managed to take over the city centre in a hail of bullets and bombs.

“People are afraid. In 2006, when shrapnel fell not far from the market, people were caught by surprise and it left its mark,” Mungali said.

Curfews and security
In Mbuji-Mayi, capital of Kasai Oriental province and a Tshisekedi stronghold, authorities had imposed a 10pm to 6am curfew.

In Lubumbashi, Kabila’s presidential guard was deployed.

“The police have taken measures and deployed all units, giving them specific equipment to maintain public order and re-establish it if necessary or if there is trouble,” national police chief Charles Bisengimana said on Monday on national TV.

Tshisekedi has made veiled threats of violence if Kabila wins.

“I call all our people to stay vigilant so that if needed they can execute the orders I will give them,” he said on Saturday.

‘Conflict risk alert’
The International Crisis Group has put the country on its “conflict risk alert” list, citing clashes in Kinshasa on the eve of the polls, the attacks in Lubumbashi on voting day and a call from several opposition candidates for the vote to be annulled.

The result is expected late in the day, if it comes on Tuesday at all.

The head of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, indicated earlier that the commission — which has been plagued by delays and logistical chaos throughout the process — might not make its deadline.

Election officials had to bring in more than 80 aircraft to get ballots distributed to about 64 000 polling stations in a country two-thirds the size of Western Europe, and poor infrastructure has made counting equally slow.

The elections are just the second since back-to-back wars from 1996 to 2003 in a country ranked last on the UN’s development index despite a wealth of cobalt, copper, diamonds and gold.

The Supreme Court has until December 17 to review the result and declare the official winner. Provisional parliamentary results are due in mid-January. — AFP