Thousands protest in Congo over poll delay

KINSHASA – Security forces fired tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters who marched through parts of Congo’s capital yesterday calling for the government’s resignation over delayed elections.

Army helicopters hovered overhead as opposition protesters hurling stones advanced in one poor neighbourhood. Large trucks full of soldiers drove at the crowds scattering the protesters, some of whom clutched handkerchiefs to their eyes.The security forces in Kinshasa – a mix of regular soldiers, riot police and elite troops – erected barricades on roads leading into the city centre and blocked marchers from coming in on the road from the airport.”This is nothing but an appeal for civil disobedience.The police will do as they do in any country, maintain public order,” said government spokesman Henri Mova Sakanyi.Kinshasa, a sprawling rundown city of 9 million on the banks of the mighty Congo River, has been on edge ahead of the planned protests, called by opposition politicians angry at delays to the first democratic elections in 40 years.Supporters of Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi set up barricades of logs and sticks on the road leading up to the UDPS headquarters.Inside bruised supporters, some with bandages on their heads, said they had been beaten by security forces.”We are calling for the resignation of this government,” said Emmanuel Kasongo, an unemployed opposition supporter.In another suburb near the UDPS headquarters, some fleeing protesters said police had fired bullets.A Reuters reporter did not hear or see any shooting.”We’re just trying to demonstrate peacefully and they started shooting,” said a young man, running from the protests.It was not possible to immediately verify the claims.The planned elections are the cornerstone of a 2003 peace deal to end five years of war that killed around 4 million people mainly from conflict-related hunger and disease.Originally, the polls were due to take place by the end of June but government wrangling, logistical delays and fighting in the remote east of the former Belgian colony have delayed them until at least next year.Opposition politicians blame the delay on the transitional government, led by President Joseph Kabila, and say the team should resign.They called the protests to coincide with the end of the transitional government’s original mandate.Yesterday was also Congo’s Independence Day and elsewhere in the city, with businesses closed and few people about, children played soccer in the side streets.- Nampa-ReutersLarge trucks full of soldiers drove at the crowds scattering the protesters, some of whom clutched handkerchiefs to their eyes.The security forces in Kinshasa – a mix of regular soldiers, riot police and elite troops – erected barricades on roads leading into the city centre and blocked marchers from coming in on the road from the airport.”This is nothing but an appeal for civil disobedience.The police will do as they do in any country, maintain public order,” said government spokesman Henri Mova Sakanyi.Kinshasa, a sprawling rundown city of 9 million on the banks of the mighty Congo River, has been on edge ahead of the planned protests, called by opposition politicians angry at delays to the first democratic elections in 40 years.Supporters of Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi set up barricades of logs and sticks on the road leading up to the UDPS headquarters.Inside bruised supporters, some with bandages on their heads, said they had been beaten by security forces.”We are calling for the resignation of this government,” said Emmanuel Kasongo, an unemployed opposition supporter.In another suburb near the UDPS headquarters, some fleeing protesters said police had fired bullets.A Reuters reporter did not hear or see any shooting.”We’re just trying to demonstrate peacefully and they started shooting,” said a young man, running from the protests.It was not possible to immediately verify the claims.The planned elections are the cornerstone of a 2003 peace deal to end five years of war that killed around 4 million people mainly from conflict-related hunger and disease.Originally, the polls were due to take place by the end of June but government wrangling, logistical delays and fighting in the remote east of the former Belgian colony have delayed them until at least next year.Opposition politicians blame the delay on the transitional government, led by President Joseph Kabila, and say the team should resign.They called the protests to coincide with the end of the transitional government’s original mandate.Yesterday was also Congo’s Independence Day and elsewhere in the city, with businesses closed and few people about, children played soccer in the side streets.- Nampa-Reuters