Congo security forces kill two protesters in anti-Kabila march

Bloomberg

Security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least two protesters and injured 47 others partici- pating in anti-government marches around the country, the UN said.
A group of Catholic activists, the Lay Coordination Committee, organized the protest against President Joseph Kabila’s continuing rule of the central African nation. It was the third rally they’ve organized since Dec. 31, and all have turned deadly. Police and soldiers surrounded places of worship, discouraging attendance and preventing protesters from marching from their churches after services.
Security forces killed one person in the capital, Kinshasa, and another in the western city of Mbandaka, according to the UN statement, while more than 100 were arrested nationwide. Police spokesman Pierrot Mwanamputu told the state-owned television station no one was killed. Activist and university professor Rossy Mukendi was shot dead in Kinshasa, according to Ida Sawyer, Central Africa director for Human Rights Watch.

UNAUTHORISED PROTESTS
Kabila, who has led Africa’s biggest copper producer since 2001, was to step down at the end of his second term in December 2016 after an election to find his successor. That vote was delayed and Kabila remained in office, sparking protests in which dozens of people were killed by security forces. Congo, which gained indep-endence from Belgium almost six decades ago, has never had a peaceful transfer of power.
In November, the electoral commission published a plan for presidential and parliamentary polls on Dec. 23, 2018, but opposition parties, which back the marches, are split on whether to support or reject the calendar.