Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo have used teargas to disperse protesters, as a wave of demonstrations takes place across the country.<\/p>\n
Protesters are demanding that President Joseph Kabila – whose expected term of office expired more than a year ago – should step down.<\/p>\n
A number of people have been injured, and UN peacekeepers have reportedly been deployed in the capital.<\/p>\n
Similar demonstrations three weeks ago led to a number of deaths.<\/p>\n
The widespread marches had been called for by the country’s Catholic Church, which appealed for a large but peaceful demonstration.<\/p>\n
The Congolese authorities, however, banned the marches and no formal permission was given. On Saturday evening, internet access in the capital Kinshasa was cut.<\/p>\n
Police warned that they would not tolerate “any attempt to disturb public order.”<\/p>\n
Despite the ban, protesters gathered after morning mass on Sunday to march through the streets, accompanied by members of the clergy.<\/p>\n
Local media outlet Radio Okapi reported protests in Kinshasa, Kisangani, and Bukavu. Other cities remain quiet, it reports, though a heavy police presence has been seen in many places.<\/p>\n
The UN mission in the country – which has been running continually since 1999 – said it deployed its troops to the streets to observe and record any violence.<\/p>\n
President Kabila has been in power since 2001, and was supposed to step down after his second and final term came to an end in 2016.<\/p>\n
Under a deal reached more than a year ago, he was due to step down by the end of 2017 – but that has not happened.<\/p>\n
Instead, the election to replace him, originally planned for 2016, has now been delayed until December 2018.<\/p>\n
The country’s powerful Catholic Church has been a voice of opposition to Mr Kabila. The Church also called for the demonstrations in late December which led to at least seven deaths, according to UN peacekeepers.<\/p>\n
Dozens were arrested in the aftermath of those protests.<\/p>\n
Sunday’s demonstrations were also backed by the country’s Muslim community. Before the march, representative Cheikh Ali Mwinyi M’Kuur told AFP: “I ask the authorities to avoid repressing the march.”<\/p>\n
“If they decide to repress, there will be no peace. But if they let the march take place, they will respect the constitution and peace will prevail,” he said.<\/p>\n
DR Congo’s evangelical Christian churches also lent their support to the march organised by their Catholic counterparts.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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