Brazzaville | Wednesday
THE Congo government on Tuesday called on renegade militias, known as the Ninjas, in the southern region of Pool to lay down their arms.
“Those who have not yet understood the peace message of President Denis Sassou Nguesso should put down their arms. Young people should lay down their arms, president Sassou Nguesso will guarantee their security,” Communications Minister Francois Ibovi, also government representative, told a news conference.
Ibovi dismissed concerns that the recent violence between government forces and Ninjas might derail upcoming general elections.
“There is no reason to this day why the electoral process should be interrupted or suspended. The government has taken all the necessary measures so that the legislative and local elections take place as planned,” he said.
In early April the government postponed the first round of the elections by two weeks.
Initially planned for May 12, they are now planned for May 26. Local elections will take place on June 12 at the same time as the second round of the legislative elections. No official reaction was given for the postponement.
Militias loyal in the 1990s to rival political camps are being demobilised and integrated into the security forces in the wake of a peace accord that ended a decade of successive conflicts in Congo, smaller neighbour of the vast Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to the east. – AFP