Ahead of an expected opposition demonstration… a ban on gatherings in the Congo"Fighting Ebola"
The government banned rallies in four provinces, including the capital, Kinshasa, to combat the outbreak of in the northeast of the country, according to what was stated in an official document seen by Agence France-Presse on Tuesday.
This decision comes ahead of a demonstration that the opposition plans to organize on July 8 in protest against what it sees as the president’s plan to remain in power.
Combat the spread of Ebola
In a memorandum issued on Saturday, Interior Minister Jacquemain Chabani ordered the authorities of Kinshasa province and three other provinces to ban "Mass gatherings"This was justified by measures to combat the spread of the
More than two years before the next presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Parliament approved earlier this month a draft law related to organizing a referendum on a constitutional amendment.
This law may open the door to a third presidential term for President Felix Tshisekedi (63 years old), whose second term, and the last according to the current constitution, ends in December 2028.
Constitutional coup
The opposition gathered in Kinshasa on June 12 to denounce What the opposition described as "Constitutional coup" He has been subjected to repression by the authorities and by pro-government activists.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the killing of at least one demonstrator. The opposition called on citizens to take to the streets on July 8 to demand Tshisekedi’s resignation.
Congo is facing an outbreak of the Ebola virus, the seventeenth in its history. It has currently resulted in the death of 360 people out of 1,274 infected people.
However, scientists and humanitarian workers believe that the real numbers may be higher than that. No infections were recorded in Kinshasa, a large city with a population of more than 17 million people.
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