News

In
Kinshasa and a number of other towns in DR Congo, peaceful protest marches were organised
by the Committee of the Catholic Laity (CLC) on Sunday, 21 January 2018, with
the aim of encouraging President Kabila to hold the general elections which
have been under discussion since his mandate officially ended at the end of
2016.

Police
set up roadblocks and reinforcements were deployed to
contain the marches.  It
is reported that live rounds and teargas were fired at demonstrators, injuring and killing several
people.  A number of arrests were also made.  The UN has pledged to send observers to report any
“possible human rights violations” or repression of free speech.

None
of the demonstrations to date have affected the ports in Matadi or Boma but
internet connections were down from 20
January to the night of 23 January.  They are now back to normal.

Similar
disruptions were caused in the general strikes of April 2017, as reported here
https://www.budd-pni.com/news-art-the-budd-group.asp?ANNEE=2017&offset=20&ID_A=1319.

Information provided by Budd DR Congo

budd.kinshasa@budd-pni.com