Judith Verweijen | Ghent University
The past year has been challenging for the Canadian mining corporation Banro. The company holds four gold mining concessions in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Namoya concession in Maniema province went into production in January 2016 but the company was forced to temporarily suspend operations and evacuate staff in May and July this year.
The suspensions were related to threats from a local armed group to attack the operation. These were not isolated incidents but followed a string of violent attacks, property destruction, ambushes and kidnappings of workers.
The company president and CEO, John Clarke blamed the violence on “a few bandits” he believes are a remnant of the country’s difficult past, not on discontent and poverty that many believe have been made worse by the company’s presence.
But my recently published research shows that these issues are in fact interrelated. Armed groups and local strongmen capitalise on widespread anger towards the company. This anger largely stems from the deep economic crisis in the Namoya region which was caused by the forced closure of artisanal mining sites four years ago. The effects were not only felt by the 6.000 to 10.000 diggers who were forcibly removed, but also by all those depending indirectly on diggers’ incomes, like farmers, shopkeepers, bar-owners and taxing agents.
By claiming to oppose transnational mining companies, armed groups are able to gain popular support. They often do so by drawing on the language of anti-imperialism and neocolonialism, which resonates strongly in the DRC. As a political representative of the coalition of armed groups responsible for the most recent attacks put it:
<blockquote>the government has signed contracts with foreign mining companies that allow them to plunder our resources. This is neocolonialism (…) we will fight it.</blockquote>
Armed groups are also bolstered by competition between local elites and authorities that is fuelled by the influx of resources stemming from mining operations. In a militarised area like the eastern DRC, conflicting local elites and authorities often draw on armed groups to bolster their position. This, in turn, strengthens these groups.
Mining companies would be better served to acknowledge and monitor rather than downplay the effects of their presence on conflicts and armed groups. Arguably, a more conflict-sensitive approach could have prevented the outbreak of violence in Namoya.
<h2>How violence escalated</h2>
Before 2016 there was limited activity by armed groups in the Namoya region. This changed after an escalation of tensions between the company and the people living in the area in January 2016. That month, a protest march against Banro ended in bloodshed. An officer from the Congolese police unit contracted by Banro opened fire on the crowd of protesters, causing the death of one person.
The march was held to protest against what people perceive to be the company’s failure to promptly meet its commitments towards the community, like building health care centres and schools. The impatience is understandable given the dire economic situation in the region. Not only have artisanal miners largely been driven out of business, the company employs limited labour and subcontractors from the area.
Towards the end of 2016, armed groups began ambushing vehicles from Banro’s logistics subcontractors close to Namoya. In March this year, one of these groups also directly attacked Banro’s facilities, taking a number of employees hostage.
The group responsible for taking the employees hostage demanded that the company construct basic infrastructure in the area as one of the conditions for releasing the hostages. Namoya’s population has remained divided about the attacks, but many sympathise with the armed group’s stance. This has allowed the group to harness crucial support from community members, like financial contributions and intelligence.
<h2>Neither criminal nor ideological</h2>
There is a tendency to see armed groups in dichotomous terms: as either ideological and having a political agenda or as criminal and pursuing material self interest. The reality is much more complex.
There’s no doubt that there’s a good dose of self interest in armed groups’ antagonism towards Banro. They have tried to benefit financially from ransom payments and “protection fees” paid by logistics subcontractors to avoid ambushes. Many armed groups also depend on artisanal mining for some of their income, imposing forced contributions on diggers and pit-owners. So the closure of artisanal mining sites by industrial companies threatens their income.
But this doesn’t mean they are simply criminals looking only for self-enrichment. Armed groups articulate widespread grievances, including growing discontent with the DRC’s political leadership and the delay in holding elections.
These grievances don’t legitimise the use of violence. But they create a measure of sympathy among the population for those claiming to fight the perceived source of their hardships.
There is a general fear that the expansion of industrial mining in the eastern DRC will eventually wipe out the artisanal and small-scale mining sector. This sector, which also mines tin, tantalum and tungsten, is estimated to employ 9-17% of the total population of the Kivu provinces. Its economic importance is however much bigger as money earned with mining is invested in other sectors, like real estate and the trade in consumer goods.
After the mining sites in Namoya were closed, many artisanal miners moved to gold mines in Fizi territory. But an exploration company, CASA Mining, is paving the way for industrial mining in that region and artisanal miners fear being displaced again.
An armed group active in the area plays into these fears. It has encouraged the population to manifest against the company. CASA’s operations have also been attacked. One member of the armed group commented that:
<blockquote>CASA will never work here. All those chased from Salamabila [Namoya] have fled here; they will rather revolt than being chased again.</blockquote>
Industrial mining companies operating in the eastern DRC would do well to acknowledge how their presence feeds into dynamics of conflict and violence rather than obscuring these complexities. As Banro’s plummeting share price over the past year shows, in particular a spectacular 12% drop after the violence in July, this would also be in the company’s own interest.
&nbsp;
This article was first published in The Conversation.

Op-Ed: Shedding light on why mining companies in eastern Congo are under attack

Congolese authorities ordered internet capacity be slowed down so that it cannot be used to transmit images via social media, a senior telecoms official based in Kinshasa said.
The move comes as opposition is growing to President Joseph Kabila, who refused to step down when his mandate expires in December, with nationwide strikes planned for Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Monday, clashes between Congolese security forces and anti-government sect Bundu dia Kongo killed at least 14 people.
&#8220;In order to prevent the exchange of abusive images via social media by your subscribers, I ask you to &#8230; take technical measures to restrict to a minimum the capacity to transmit images,&#8221; post and telecoms chief regulator Oscar Manikunda Musata said in a signed letter seen by Reuters.
He listed social media he wanted the measure to target, including Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram and Twitter.
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="37">
Reporting by Patient Ligodi; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Louise Ireland
</div>

Congo orders internet slowdown to restrict social media: telecoms source

Nelson Alusala | Senior Research Fellow, University of Pretoria
President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has barely five months to save his 17-year regime from a cataclysmic ending. According to the 31 December 2016 all-inclusive political agreement, Kabila should organise elections and hand over power.
But in a recent interview, Kabila said he wasn’t going to “promise anything” on when he would leave office. This stand is in violation of the political agreement brokered by the Conférence Episcopale Nationale du Congo (CENCO).
The agreement sets clear terms for Kabila’s exit. His second presidential term ended on 19 December 2016. The agreement allowed him an extension of one year on condition that he would neither seek a third term, nor attempt to amend the constitution to remain in power beyond December 2017.
But Kabila has not implemented the reforms that would pave way for an election. In addition, the country’s national elections commission shows no momentum. The country’s national elections commissioner, Corneille Nangaa, stated recently that presidential elections would probably not take place this year because of the conflict in the Kasai region and the fact that there isn’t a comprehensive electoral register.
The opposition called Nangaa’s statement a declaration of war.
Read together, the president’s unwillingness to give a clear indication that he will step down, and Nangaa’s projection that there might not be a 2017 election, point towards a well orchestrated plan to delay the vote.
This has deeply polarised the country which is on the brink of increased violence. With just five months before Kabila’s one-year grace period expires, a number of warning bells have gone off from various corners of the globe.
<h2>Delay tactics</h2>
Even before the expiry of his constitutional mandate in 2016 Kabila employed various strategies to prolong his stay in power. His game plan dates back to early 2011 when he amended the constitution to establish a single-round, simple-majority election system.
Since then he has made numerous other attempts to manipulate the system to his advantage. Three stand out.
In January 2015, the National Assembly passed a law that called for a national census as a precursor to national elections. The opposition parties and the public saw this as a ploy to enable Kabila to stay in power indefinitely – a national census exercise had the potential to go on for years.
After mass demonstrations across the country the senate was forced to renounce the move.
The second attempt came in May 2016 when the DRC’s constitutional court ruled that if the election did not take place by the end of his second term, Kabila could stay in office until a new president was elected. This ruling exploited a constitutional loophole which states that,
<blockquote>“ …if for whatever reason, there is not a new president or a president-elect in place at the time when the current president’s term ends, then the sitting president stays in place, until there is a new president elect.”</blockquote>
The court ruling triggered mass demonstrations particularly in the capital Kinshasa.
In a third attempt, Kabila set out to placate the opposition and to convince them that organising an election within the required time frame would be impractical. In November 2015 he announced that the country would engage in national, all inclusive political dialogue bringing together the opposition, civil society and religious groups.
He highlighted five key areas of discussion. They included creating a credible voters roll, agreeing on the election calendar, securing the election process, financing the poll, and the role of international partners in the elections.
Many in the country were sceptical about Kabila’s proposal and by June 2016 it hadn’t gained support. This was despite the African Union appointing Edem Kodjo to mediate the process.
A MONUSCO (the United Nations Mission in the Congo) report stated that the main opposition groupings – Dynamique de l’opposition, and the Groupe des sept (G7) &#8211; were describing the call for dialogue as a ‘trap’ set by Kabila.
Kodjo’s facilitation finally culminated in a political agreement between Kabila’s coalition and the Union pour la Nation Congolaise, an opposition party led by Vital Kamerhe. Among other controversial decisions, the agreement stipulated that the current president would remain in power until elections were held and his successor assumed office, in line with the May 2016 constitutional court ruling.
The rest of the opposition, which had boycotted Kodjos’s mediation, denounced the AU-led agreement. The effect was to split the country in two.
In an effort to break the impasse, a mediation led by CENCO organised consultations between the signatories and non-signatories to the AU-led agreement leading to the all inclusive political agreement of 31 December 2016. As mentioned above, Kabila seems to be ignoring its implementation.
<h2>Unheeded warnings</h2>
The UN has warned that the political impasse, rising insecurity across the country, and the worsening human rights and humanitarian situation could easily plunge the country into total chaos. In particular, it has pointed to the ongoing inter-ethnic violence in the Kasai region.
The world body has called for a successful political transition underpinned by free, fair and inclusive elections.
The UK has also cautioned that unless Kabila holds elections within the agreed time lines, the political uncertainty and instability in Kinshasa will spread across the country.
And the UN Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, has also warned that there’s a risk that the gains of the last 17 years will be reversed if Kabila fails to arrange a successful transition.
A change of heart by Kabila could see him go down in history as the first Congolese president to hand over power democratically. The decisions he makes in the next five months will determine whether his 17-year rule will be worthy a legacy.

Op-Ed: Why Kabila’s bid to remain in power is bad news for the DRC

The president of Democratic Republic of Congo&#8217;s electoral commission said on Sunday that a vote to replace President Joseph Kabila will probably not be possible this year, violating a deal that let Kabila stay on past the end of his mandate.
Kabila&#8217;s refusal to step down at the end of his second elected term in December sparked protests that killed dozens of people. The opposition quickly denounced commission president Corneille Nangaa&#8217;s announcement on Sunday as a declaration of &#8220;war&#8221;.
&#8220;The parameters at our disposal give us, more or less, reason to think that, in December, it will probably not be possible to stick to that date,&#8221; Nangaa said in an interview on France&#8217;s TV5Monde, referring to the year-end deadline.
Under the accord struck on Dec. 31 between Kabila&#8217;s representatives and opposition leaders, Kabila, in power since 2001, is also barred from trying to change the constitution to stand for a third term.
However, Kabila has said only the electoral commission can schedule the vote once it finishes enrolling millions of voters. In an interview last month with German newspaper Der Spiegel, he also said that he had &#8220;promised nothing&#8221; in the December deal.
In response to Nangaa&#8217;s comments, opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi wrote on Twitter that the commission president &#8220;had declared war on the Congolese people&#8221; and promised a full response by the country&#8217;s main opposition bloc on Monday.
(Reporting By Aaron Ross; Editing by Mary Milliken)

DRC elections unlikely to take place this year

<div id="article-byline">By Aaron Ross | KINSHASA</div>
Democratic Republic of Congo&#8217;s government has formally requested financial support from international donors as it confronts a worsening economic crisis, a letter seen by Reuters on Thursday showed.
Africa&#8217;s top copper producer has been hard hit by low commodity prices in recent years. It has only enough foreign currency reserves to cover about three weeks of imports and its franc currency CDF= has lost half its value in the past year.
The letter was dated July 4 and addressed to the U.N. Secretary General as well as in-country representatives of the African Union, the European Union, three regional African organisations and other foreign ambassadors.
In it, Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala&#8217;s chief of staff, Michel Nsomue, wrote that the government &#8220;needs the support of the international community and thus of its traditional partners&#8221;.
&#8220;In light of the current context, (the government) awaits in particular from these (partners) balance of payments support and budget support to allow it to confront the current economic difficulties provoked by the collapse of prices of raw materials on the world market,&#8221; Nsomue wrote.
The letter does not say how much money the government is seeking. It informally sought up to $500 million from the World Bank and African Development Bank last year.
Finance Minister Henri Yav Mulang told Reuters this week that the government was in ongoing talks with the International Monetary Fund about a possible Rapid Credit Facility, a form of balance of payments support. The IMF has declined to comment on those talks.
Western donors are reluctant to aid the government of President Joseph Kabila, who refused to step down when his constitutional mandate expired last December. His government has been accused of widespread human rights abuses &#8211; charges it rejects.
The donors are also concerned about a lack of transparency. The IMF suspended its last financial assistance to Congo &#8211; a $560 million loan programme &#8211; in 2012 after the government failed to provide sufficient details on the sale of state mining assets to an offshore company.
&#8220;The transparency of Congolese government finances, including (state mining company) Gecamines, will be a precondition for any financial support,&#8221; a Western diplomat told Reuters.
Earlier this week, Congo&#8217;s government discussed with representatives of Russian bank VTB (<a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=VTBR.MM">VTBR.MM</a>) the possibility of issuing a sovereign Eurobond. But VTB denied a Congolese government statement that it planned to make any direct investments.
(Editing by Gareth Jones)

Congo requests financial support from donors amid economic crisis

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will mark <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13286306">57 years of independence</a> on Friday, 30 June. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of Mobutu Sese Seko’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mobutu-Sese-Seko">fall from power</a> in 1997.
The DRC is currently perilously close to the status of a failed state. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan recently suggested that the country is in <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/congo-war-kabila-kofi-annan-626542">grave danger</a> after President Joseph Kabila’s delaying of the elections that should have taken place in 2016.
Annan’s warning is timely. Kabila’s struggle to stay in power beyond his mandate has accelerated conflicts in the country.
Although large portions of the Congo are peaceful, the northeastern parts of the country have been in a state of low-level conflict since the end of the Cold War. There remains a dizzying array of <a href="http://congoresearchgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/The-Landscape-of-Armed-Groups-in-Eastern-Congo1.pdf">armed groups</a> present in the DRC to this day.
But currently the most significant violence is the ongoing uprising in the central Kasai province – the Kamwina Nsapu rebellion. Named after its former leader, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/26/congolese-militia-decapitates-more-than-40-policemen-as-violence-grows">armed opposition</a> has already led to the decapitation of more than forty policemen and has <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-violence-idUSKBN19B0YX">claimed the lives</a> of over 3,000 people.
Over 20,000 Congolese refugees <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/world/2017/05/19/over-20000-congo-refugees-flee-into-northern-angola/101882820/">have fled into Angola</a>.
The present political instability is taking place against a backdrop of continuing poverty. The country has a population of <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/drc">77.27 million</a> and <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/frontiers/2014/publication/section-1-short-dialogue-extreme-poverty-democratic-republic-congo">six out of seven</a> live on less than $1.25 a day.
The endemic poverty in the Congo is a far cry from the unbounded optimism that greeted the independence of the country on 30 June 1960. The country’s first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, wanted to tackle income inequality.
But the Congo soon descended into civil war. Five years after independence, Joseph Mobutu, the leader of the Congolese army, took power in a bloodless coup. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/04/world/zaire-a-paradigm-of-mismanagerment.html?mcubz=0">Mobutu’s rule</a> was greeted with optimism but ended in a catastrophic decline in state services after he embezzled international development funds.
Thirty-seven years after the coup, Mobutu was removed from power by <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/democraticrepublicofcongo/1318326/Laurent-Kabila.html">Laurent Desire Kabila</a> under whose rule corruption continued unabated.
Kabila’s son, Joseph, has ruled in a less corrupt fashion than his two predecessors. But he and his family have built a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-12-15/with-his-family-fortune-at-stake-congo-president-kabila-digs-in">vast business empire</a> on the back of his political power.
Since decolonisation, the Congo has never been ruled by men who put the state’s interests above their own. This has meant that its vast <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_cg.html">mineral and agricultural wealth</a> has not been put to the service of its people.
<h2>Post independence</h2>
Mobutu <a href="https://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/651125kasavubu.html">wrested the presidency</a> from Joseph Kasa-Vubu in 1965. Kasa-Vubu’s role as the Congo’s first president has been overlooked by the history books.
His role has always been eclipsed by the country’s more charismatic first prime minister, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patrice-Lumumba">Patrice Lumumba</a>, as well as by Mobutu’s lengthy dictatorship.
Kasa-Vubu tried harder than Mobutu to bridge the ideological chasm that opened up in Congolese politics after independence. Nevertheless both he and Mobutu failed as presidents.
Mobutu used the appendages of statehood to enrich himself at the expense of his people while Kasa-Vubu struggled to hold together the vast array of political factions that developed in the Congo after independence. As a result, their tenures triggered protracted conflicts and civil wars neither could control.
The political forces that shaped Mobutu and Kasa-Vubu’s rule can be explained in part by the Cold War. Kasa-Vubu could not hold the centre together as the US and the USSR vied for supremacy in Central Africa. Both <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-war-in-the-congo-mutiny-secession-and-foreign-intervention/5383441">sponsored militants</a> to advance their agendas. Mobutu was one of their beneficiaries, and he rose through the ranks to take power.
<h2>Mobutu’s reign</h2>
When the USSR collapsed Mobutu was <a href="http://www.mo.be/en/article/effects-end-cold-war-central-african-politics-how-cold-war-turned-very-hot-one">no longer useful</a> to the US as an ally and he was left without a superpower patron.
He immediately became vulnerable to the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1993/08/zaire-an-african-horror-story/305496/">catalogue of grievances</a> that his citizens had against him, which included using divide and rule tactics to remain in power, a disorganised administration and widespread corruption.
Mobutu tried to <a href="http://web.stanford.edu/~sstedman/2001.readings/Zaire.htm">reinvent himself</a> as an empathetic statesman after the 1994 Rwanda genocide by offering to host refugees. But his handling of the refugee crisis was shaped by his own poisonous agenda.
He ruthlessly played ethnic constituencies against one another and fomented a social and political powder keg in the north-east of the country. By consistently <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278624263_Perpetuation_of_instability_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo_When_the_Kivus_sneeze_Kinshasa_catches_a_cold">denying Tutsis citizenship</a> Mobutu fermented ethnic consciousness among the Kivus.
Tutsi groups, such as the Banyamulenge, would happily join forces with opposition groups to unseat Mobutu from power as a result. Once Kivu exploded into conflict in 1994, Mobutu and his regime were caught in the cross hairs – as were countless innocent civilians.
As the dust was settling in 1997, Laurent Desire Kabila and his Democratic Alliance for the Liberation of Zaire took the opportunity to <a href="http://reliefweb.int/report/angola/how-kabila-lost-his-way-performance-laurent-d%C3%A9sir%C3%A9-kabilas-government">seize power</a>. Given Mobutu’s brutal and corrupt regime, some welcomed his arrival. But many did not as they feared their <a href="http://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/fear-kinshasa-over-restrictions">liberties would be restricted</a>.
<h2>The Kabila’s</h2>
Laurent Kabila, known as Kabila Père, was even more autocratic and violent than his predecessor. In the early days, his government was controlled by the Rwandan backers who had <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2009/09/24/kagames-hidden-war-in-the-congo/">supported his putsch</a>.
They wanted to ensure that the Hutu extremists who had engineered the Rwandan Genocide could never again threaten their country. They did this by attacking the refugee camps in eastern Congo that hosted Hutus.
But a year into his presidency, Kabila tired of being a puppet, ordered his Rwandan handlers to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/144517.stm">leave Kinshasa</a>. Angry that they had lost control of the Congo, and fearful the country could be used as a base by Hutu extremists, Rwanda plotted to end Kabila’s rule.
Along with Burundi and Uganda, who eyed opportunities to forestall rebellions on their own Congolese borders, Rwanda invaded the Congo in August 1998.
Kabila Père did not live to see the end of the conflict. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/feb/11/theobserver">Shot</a> by one of his bodyguards on 16 January 2001, his rule had lasted only four years – the shortest of any Congolese president.
History has not been kind to Kabila Père. Other than ousting Mobutu, he scored few successes. The 1996 <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39603000/ns/world_news-africa/t/second-rwanda-genocide-revealed-congo/#.WUjftmjyvIU">mass killing of Hutu’s</a> that took place close to Kisangani in the northeast of the country cast a long shadow over his presidency.
When Kabila Père was assassinated, his senior advisers were unsure what to do next. Eventually, they engineered his son’s ascent to power.
Unlike his father, Joseph Kabila reached out to the US and other countries to garner support for his rule. And he received it overwhelmingly.
The younger Kabila relied heavily on the work of the United Nations Mission to the Congo to create peace. Yet he cleverly exaggerated his role in that achievement to win the country’s first democratic general election in decades in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/calls-for-calm-in-congo-after-kabila-emerges-as-the-victor-424478.html">2006</a>.
But Joseph Kabila’s rule has been far from perfect. He has used <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2010/06/29/congos-new-mobutu/">state-instigated violence</a> to clamp down on activists and journalists. Meanwhile, localised violence continues to wreak havoc in the northeast of the country.
Kabila initially seemed to be the president who had the strong hand of Mobutu and the political acumen of Kasa-Vubu. But his recent attempts to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-politics-idUSKCN1220CJ">cling to power</a> at all costs have cast him firmly in the image of Mobutu.
Had he organised elections in a timely fashion and been proactive in stepping down, history might have judged him to have been the best president the Congo has ever had.
As it stands, 57 years after independence, Kabila is doing more to regress the country to its violent past than to guide it into a truly progressive future.

From Mobutu to Kabila, the DRC is paying a heavy price for autocrats at its helm

The European Union imposed sanctions on nine more Congo nationals on Monday over &#8220;obstruction of the electoral process and related human rights violations&#8221; in the central African state, where President Joseph Kabila has overstayed his mandate.
The nine include Congo&#8217;s current and former interior ministers, the government spokesman and officers of the security forces. They join another seven people already on the EU blacklist which subjects them to asset freezes and travel bans.
One of those targeted, government spokesman Lambert Mende, said: &#8220;This will not be without consequences. There will be a reaction.&#8221;
Congo&#8217;s government has repeatedly denounced earlier sanctions imposed by the EU and United States as unjustified and illegal, and has threatened diplomatic retaliation.
Political tension in Democratic Republic of Congo is running high after security forces killed dozens during protests over election delays last year.
Kabila, in power since 2001, refused to step down and hold a national vote after his mandate expired in December. He has blamed election delays on budgetary constraints and the challenge of registering millions of voters.
The president struck a deal with the opposition at the end of last year to hold elections by the end of 2017, but talks to implement the agreement broke down in March.
Worsening militia violence has raised fears of a slide back toward the civil wars of the turn of the century that killed millions of people in Congo.
The EU said Congo should hold an election as soon as possible, and expressed concern about excessive use of force by state authorities in managing the security crisis, as well as restrictions on media and bans on demonstrations.
Among the new listings were Evariste Boshab, a close ally of Kabila as his former interior and security minister, and Emmanuel Ramazani Shadari, who holds the job currently and oversees the police.
Also blacklisted were Mende; Kalev Mutondo, the head of intelligence; and General Eric Ruhorimbere, a commander in central Congo&#8217;s Kasai region, where the army has been accused of using disproportionate force to put down an insurrection.
Reached by telephone, Mende said he could not immediately comment further because he was out of the country.
Congo mines significant amounts of cobalt, gold, diamonds, copper and tin but remains one of sub-Saharan Africa&#8217;s poorest countries.
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, additional reporting by Joe Bavier; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Alison Williams)

EU blacklists nine more Congolese over rights, elections

The European Union is poised to impose sanctions against more Congolese officials, sources in Brussels said, amid worsening violence in the resource-rich country since President Joseph Kabila overstayed his mandate and pushed back elections.
One source said the EU will add nine names to its Congo blacklist of people subjected to asset freezes and travel bans. They join seven others, including members of the Congolese army and police, the bloc put on its list in December citing &#8220;serious violations of human rights&#8221;.
The bloc&#8217;s 28 member states are expected to approve the enlarged sanctions list at a meeting in Brussels later on Wednesday, the source said.
Kabila, in power since 2001, struck a deal in December with Congo&#8217;s main opposition bloc to stay on after his mandate expired provided he held elections by the end of 2017. But talks to implement the deal broke down in March when Kabila refused to commit to the bloc&#8217;s choice of prime minister.
Political tensions are high after security forces killed dozens during protests over election delays last year. Worsening militia violence in recent months has also raised fears of a backslide toward the civil wars of the turn of the century that killed millions.
The Congo government has repeatedly denounced earlier sanctions imposed by the EU and United States as unjustified and illegal, and has threatened diplomatic retaliation.
Congo mines significant amounts of cobalt, gold, diamonds, copper and tin but remains one of Sub-Saharan Africa&#8217;s poorest countries.
On Tuesday, the EU said separately it would help transport aid workers and medical supplies to a remote north-eastern region of Congo, which is fighting an Ebola outbreak.
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; editing by Richard Lough)

EU to impose sanctions on more Congo officials: diplomats

Aaron Ross | KINSHASA
Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila on Tuesday named a new transitional government, state television said, defying opponents who say he is in violation of a previous agreement.
Kabila, in power since 2001, struck a deal in December with Congo&#8217;s main opposition bloc to allow him to stay on after his mandate expired provided he held elections by the end of 2017. But talks to implement the deal broke down in March when Kabila refused to commit to the bloc&#8217;s choice of prime minister.
The roughly 60 ministers and vice-ministers read out on state TV are largely holdovers from the previous government and key ministries &#8211; including foreign affairs, interior, justice and mines &#8211; remain in the hands of Kabila loyalists.
Political tensions are high after security forces killed dozens during protests over election delays last year. Worsening militia violence in recent months has also raised fears of a backslide toward the civil wars of the turn of the century that killed millions.
Despite resistance to Kabila&#8217;s remaining in power, he has successfully co-opted large portions of the opposition. The new prime minister Bruno Tshibala, whom he named last month, is a former member of the country&#8217;s largest opposition party.
The new government faces a number of stern tests. Congo&#8217;s franc currency has half its value since last year and authorities are struggling to mobilise the resources needed to hold the election by the end of the year.
(Reporting By Aaron Ross; Editing by Emma Farge)

Congo’s Kabila names transitional govt, defying main opposition

<div id="article-byline">By <a href="http://www.reuters.com/journalists/david-lewis">David Lewis</a> | KINSHASA</div>
One day in November 2015, President Joseph Kabila visited his foreign ministry and smiled broadly as a computer took his photograph and fingerprints. He was there to mark the launch of the Democratic Republic of Congo&#8217;s new biometric passport, fitted with a chip to store details of his identity.
Kabila and his aides have extolled the benefits of the passports, saying they will allow freer movement across an increasingly security-conscious world. In private, the organizers of the deal have another reason to celebrate: It presents an opportunity to make hundreds of millions of dollars off some of the poorest people on the planet.
The passport is among the most expensive in the world, costing each Congolese applicant $185. A UK passport costs half as much, and a U.S. passport $110.
Yet according to documents reviewed by Reuters, the Congolese government will receive just $65 from each passport. Instead, most of the money will go to Semlex, a firm based in Belgium that is producing the travel documents, and to a small company in the Gulf.
That Gulf company, called LRPS, receives $60 for every passport issued, according to documents relating to the deal between the Congo government and Semlex. LRPS is registered in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a jurisdiction where details of ownership are often kept secret.
According a person with direct knowledge of the passport deal, LRPS is owned by Makie Makolo Wangoi, who is believed to be a close relative of Kabila. This source said that Wangoi traveled to the UAE in June 2015 to complete the transfer of LRPS shares into her name. Documents referring to travel arrangements and the share transfer indicate that Wangoi owns LRPS, though the evidence is not conclusive.
Reuters sent questions about LRPS to Wangoi&#8217;s email address but received no reply. The Congolese presidency did not respond to Reuters inquiries about the passport scheme and the ownership of LRPS. Nor did Semlex respond to requests for comment.
After these various inquiries were sent, a senior Congolese security official contacted Reuters and said he would provide responses on behalf of Kabila, Wangoi, and others. He later said all questions should be referred to the CEO of Semlex, Albert Karaziwan, and supplied no further comment.
Karaziwan did not reply to emails or text messages sent to him. Lawyers for him declined to comment, citing possible legal action over a person involved in the passport deal for allegedly disseminating misleading information. Reuters gave Kabila and others multiple opportunities to say whether any of the information about the passport deal in this article was misleading. They did not respond.
The surprising cost of Congo&#8217;s passports is highlighted by a rival proposal from a separate Belgian company called Zetes. In that document, reviewed by Reuters, Zetes outlined plans in 2014 to supply biometric passports to Congo for $28.50 each. Zetes confirmed making such an offer.
Over time, Congo&#8217;s $185 biometric passports could generate hundreds of millions of dollars for LRPS and Semlex while diverting potential revenue away from an unstable and impoverished state. According to the United Nations, the average per capita income in Congo is just $680 a year.
The Congolese state needs all the funds it can get and has previously missed out on revenues from big corporations: A 2013 report by the Africa Progress Panel said Congo appeared to have lost out on $1.3 billion in revenues from five mining deals since 2010 because state companies had &#8220;systematically&#8221; undervalued assets when selling concessions to investors.
Those deals involved complex transactions between big enterprises; in the passport scheme, the state is losing out on revenue that comes directly from ordinary citizens.
Kabila was due to step down in December but elections have been postponed, leaving him in charge as domestic opponents assert his authority has run out. Dozens of people have been killed in violent clashes between protesters and police.
During Kabila&#8217;s rule, some of his close associates have acquired considerable wealth through interests in numerous businesses in the country, according to the corruption watchdog Global Witness. In December, the news agency Bloomberg detailed a network of about 70 companies – not including LRPS – that it said were linked to members of Kabila&#8217;s family, including Wangoi.
Kabila did not respond to requests for comment on that story either, but officials close to Kabila have denied Congo is losing out in deals that favor officials or businessmen close to the president. They have also defended his family&#8217;s involvement in business, saying they are private citizens who have a right to engage in commercial activities.
IDENTITY EXPERT
Over the past 20 years, Semlex has become a leader in providing identity and travel documents for African nations. From its headquarters in an imposing building on Avenue Brugmann in Brussels, it has supplied clients stretching from Guinea-Bissau in Africa&#8217;s west to Kenya in the east and Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
Landing a contract in Congo &#8211; one of the continent&#8217;s most populous nations, with some 70 million people – had the potential to be highly rewarding for the firm. Documents seen by Reuters, including correspondence between Semlex and the government and agreements between individuals and firms involved in the deal, paint a picture of how the contract was pulled together.
A key figure was Semlex CEO Karaziwan, who founded the company in 1992 and whose family owns all but a small percentage of the business. Karaziwan is a Belgian of Armenian origin, born in the Syrian city of Aleppo. He owns a turreted castle in Belgium and has business interests from real estate to restaurants. His main focus is technology and security for governments, particularly in Africa.
Between October 2014 and June 2015, Karaziwan engaged in a series of communications with Congolese authorities, including several letters addressed directly to Kabila, according to documents reviewed by Reuters. On Oct. 16, 2014, Karaziwan sent Kabila an outline of his company&#8217;s expertise, saying Semlex was able to offer biometric passports at a cost of 20 to 40 euros each ($21.50 to $43), thanks to having its own printer in Lithuania.
Five days later, Karaziwan sent another letter to Kabila. This time he invited two senior officials from Kabila&#8217;s inner circle, Moise Ekanga Lushyma and Emmanuel Adrupiako, to Dubai for meetings to discuss a possible contract.
Ekanga has headed the Congolese government office overseeing billions of dollars of cooperation between Congo and China. Adrupiako is an influential financial adviser who has worked with Kabila since 2001. One official with detailed knowledge of the workings of Kabila&#8217;s presidency described Adrupiako as the informal &#8220;treasurer&#8221; in his office.
In early November 2014, Semlex said it could produce passports at $50 apiece, according to the documents seen by Reuters. In a letter sent to Kabila on Nov. 13, the price had risen to $120.
In March 2015, Karaziwan was invited to Kinshasa, DR Congo&#8217;s capital, by the foreign minister to finalize a deal. By the end of May, a proposal for Semlex to provide passports for five years was cleared by the budget ministry.
On June 11, 2015, Karaziwan and Congo&#8217;s Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda and Finance Minister Henry Yav Mulang signed the final contract. Semlex agreed to invest $222 million in the project. The Congolese government would charge citizens $185 per passport, a steep rise from the $100 cost of the country&#8217;s previous passports.
On the day the passport was launched, Karaziwan, Tshibanda and a group of Semlex workers posed for a photograph, seen by Reuters: In the middle was Kabila, grinning broadly.
Weeks later, the prime minister of Congo at the time, Mapon Matata Ponyo, wrote to Foreign Minister Tshibanda complaining that he had only heard about the passport deal in the press. In the letter, reviewed by Reuters, Matata Ponyo asked for more details on the contract to see whether it met requirements for transparency. He never received a reply, a spokesman for Matata Ponyo said.
A senior official at the body that regulates government contracts in Congo, the Autorité de Regulation des Marchés Publics, said the passport deal should have gone through a public tender. &#8220;This did not happen,&#8221; said the official. &#8220;It was handled directly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The contract should have been published.”
THE SPLIT
The June 11 contract provides that $65 from each passport be earmarked for the Congolese state. The remaining $120 was allotted to a consortium that includes Semlex Europe, based in Brussels; Semlex World, based in the United Arab Emirates; Semlex&#8217;s Lithuanian printer; and the UAE entity called LRPS.
That $120 was further divided up by two other agreements, also dated June 11. According to one contract, a Kinshasa-based firm called Mantenga Contacto Trading Limited was allotted $12 from each passport in return for handling much of the project&#8217;s human resources issues, including supplying staff. Mantenga acknowledged Reuters inquiries but supplied no comment.
The three Semlex firms involved in the deal were allotted $48 per passport.
That left $60 out of the $120 allotted to the consortium. According to documents seen by Reuters, that $60 from each passport issued was allocated to LRPS. In return, LRPS would help with administration, logistics and the relationship with the government.
LRPS was represented in the talks with the government by Karaziwan, the boss of Semlex, according to the contract between Semlex and the Congolese government.
Reuters was unable to verify the current status of LRPS. But its certificate of incorporation with authorities in Ras al Khaimah shows it was set up on Jan. 14, 2015, as Semlex was negotiating the passport deal with Kabila&#8217;s representatives. The document does not say who owned the company when it was created. But a second document – an agreement to transfer shares – indicates that later in 2015, LRPS was owned by Cedric Fevre, a Frenchman based in Dubai who is a business associate of Karaziwan.
Though this computer-created document is unsigned, metadata embedded in it shows that it was created in the UAE in 2015 and printed on June 25 that year. That was the day that Fevre transferred all 10,000 shares in LRPS to Wangoi, according to the source with direct knowledge of the passport deal.
A second source, who was aware of the deal without having direct knowledge, also said Wangoi became the owner of LRPS.
The person with direct knowledge of the passport deal said that the only signed copies of the LRPS share-transfer agreement are held by Fevre and Wangoi. Reuters has not seen a signed copy, and Fevre and Wangoi did not respond to questions for this article.
Wangoi is little known outside the Kabila family. Corporate records confirm she is a shareholder in several companies with other Kabila family members. In two of these firms, Congo-based Shaba Impex Sprl and Shaboil Sprl, Wangoi uses the name Makolo wa Ngoy Kabila in the registration. Two people familiar with the president&#8217;s circle said Wangoi is one of Kabila&#8217;s many sisters. She was identified as a Kabila sister in the Bloomberg investigation into the business interests of the president&#8217;s family. Another source, who has studied Congo and Kabila for many years, said she could be a niece.
The passport contract runs for five years. It doesn&#8217;t stipulate how many passports will be made, but in recent years Congo has issued around 2.5 million of its old passports annually. A person with direct knowledge of the Semlex operation said the Belgian company had produced 145,000 of the new biometric passports by the end of January 2017, which would earn LRPS nearly $9 million.
In another document reviewed by Reuters, Semlex said that it would be able to supply Congo with 2 million passports a year, once the operation was fully up and running. That suggests the Belgian company could receive nearly $100 million a year from the deal, while LRPS could receive $120 million a year.
ELECTION DELAY
Kabila was due to step down in December at the end of his second term in office, a move that would have marked Congo&#8217;s first peaceful transfer of power. But the government said it needed more time and money to organize elections, and Kabila has remained president.
Dozens of people have been killed in protests over the election delay while a fresh rebellion in the south has killed hundreds more. On Dec. 31, mediators from the Catholic Church secured an agreement from Kabila&#8217;s camp that the vote will be held this year and Kabila will not seek re-election. Months on, the deal has still not been implemented and the church has walked away from the mediation process. Kabila himself has not publicly declared his position. His opponents say several efforts to push back the vote show he is in no hurry to yield power.
Whether or not Kabila stays in power, LRPS looks set to continue to make money from every passport issued in Congo. According to Article 14 of the contract for the deal, the agreement remains valid even if there are &#8220;institutional changes&#8221; in the country.
(Additional reporting by Noah Browning and Tom Arnold in Dubai, Stanley Carvalho in Abu Dhabi, Teis Jensen in Copenhagen, Robert-Jan Bartunek in Brussels and Matt Scuffham in Toronto; Editing By Richard Woods and Michael Williams)

Special Report: Congo’s pricey passports send millions of dollars offshore

Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila pledged on Wednesday to restore order to the country&#8217;s restive Kasai region, where a worsening insurgency poses the most serious threat to his 16-year rule.
Kabila&#8217;s failure to step down when his two-term mandate expired in December has further destabilised the loosely governed central African giant. Millions died in regional wars from 1996-2003 and dozens of armed groups still operate.
The Kamuina Nsapu insurrection erupted Kasai-Central province last August as a dispute over a customary chieftancy but has since spread to four other provinces, killing hundreds while taking on an increasingly political tone.
In a rare address to parliament, Kabila said he had designated Kasai an &#8220;operational sector&#8221; and called on militia members to lay down their arms.
<blockquote>&#8220;Confronted with these unacceptable atrocities committed against innocent victims &#8230; we can no longer defer our responsibility to re-establish state authority in this part of the country by all possible legal means,&#8221; Kabila said.</blockquote>
The United Nations has accused both government forces and militia fighters of rights abuses and said it has credible reports that the army has carried out summary executions against suspected militants.
The government denies that its forces employ excessive force but has charged seven soldiers with crimes including for murder and mutilation in connection with a video that appears to show troops massacring suspected militia members.
The U.N. mission in Congo warned in a statement on Wednesday that an intensified military response &#8220;will only exacerbate the violence and further place the civilian population in danger&#8221;.
The mission also said this week that it has confirmed the presence of 23 mass grave sites in the region.
Under a deal struck with the opposition in December, Kabila can stay in office until after an election required to be held by the end of this year.
However, negotiations to implement the accord collapsed last week amid a disagreement over the procedure for nominating a new prime minister from the main opposition bloc.
Kabila said in his speech that if the impasse persisted, he would go ahead and name a prime minister in the next 48 hours, a move fiercely opposed by opposition leadership.
(Reporting by Aaron Ross; Editing by Joe Bavier and Alison Williams)

Congo’s President Kabila promises to restore security to restive centre

GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; Soldiers targeting the Kamwina Nsapu militia group in central Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least 101 people between Feb. 9 and Feb. 13, including 39 women, the U.N. said on Tuesday.
The soldiers fired indiscriminately with machine guns when they saw the militia fighters, who were armed mainly with machetes and spears, human rights spokeswoman Liz Throssell said, citing sources in the country.
&#8220;We are deeply concerned at the reported high number of deaths, which if confirmed would suggest excessive and disproportionate use of force by the soldiers,&#8221; she said.
Hundreds have died and tens of thousands have been uprooted in central Congo in recent months in battles between security forces and the militia, who are seeking to avenge the death of their leader Kamwina Nsapu.
He was killed by the Congolese armed forces last August, after vowing to rid Congo&#8217;s Kasai-Central province of all state security forces, accusing them of abusing the local population.
&#8220;It appears that since then the militia have become radicalised and they are attacking state institutions, what they see as the symbols of the state. The actual roots of the conflict are very deep and very complex,&#8221; Throssell said.
The authority of some customary chiefs is recognised by the government and can be passed from father to son, but Kamwina Nsapu was not officially recognised.
Analysts say militia violence in Congo, a tinderbox of conflicts linked to land, ethnicity and mineral resources, has been exacerbated by President Joseph Kabila&#8217;s failure to step down when his constitutional mandate expired in December.
Throssell did not have an estimate of the total size of the Kamwina Nsapu militia, but said there had been several attacks involving over 100 militia members.
&#8220;They have a lot of popular support,&#8221; she added.
Many of the militia fighters are children but Throssell could not confirm if children were among the dead. The majority of the dead were thought to be militia members, but 39 women were caught in the firing line and killed during an incident in a market on Feb. 9, she said.
The clashes took place in and around the town of Tshimbulu, about 160 km (100 miles) south of the provincial capital Kananga, she said.
 
(Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Louise Ireland and Pritha Sarkar)﻿

Congolese soldiers kill at least 101 in militia clashes: U.N

<div>
KINSHASA (Reuters) &#8211; Congo&#8217;s opposition leaders signed a deal with the party of President Joseph Kabila on Saturday that will require him to step down after elections that must take place before the end of 2017.
Mediators from the Congo&#8217;s Catholic church had been heaping pressure on both sides for weeks to sign an agreement aimed at averting a slide into anarchy and possibly another civil war over Kabila&#8217;s decision not to step down despite his mandate expiring more than a week ago.
If they stick to it, the agreement will deliver Democratic Republic of Congo&#8217;s first peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960.
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&#8220;Today, we are happy to head up a political compromise,&#8221; said Marcel Utembi, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference, before representatives of Kabila&#8217;s party, including Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu and Interior Minister Emmanuel Shadary, and its main opposition alliance, signed the deal.
Huge hurdles remain, however. The electoral commission has said elections may not be possible before 2018, and many doubt Kabila really intends to stand down. Several of his supporters have floated the idea of changing the constitution to enable him to run for another term, as other African leaders have done.
Any failure to implement the deal would worsen instability that has seen scores of people killed over the past four months, many of them protesters shot dead by security forces. Police and military killed around 40 people last week protesting when Kabila&#8217;s mandate ran out on Dec. 20.
&#8220;Now that all pretexts for various plots against the republic have been removed, I call everyone to &#8230; to create conditions of true peace and stability throughout the country,&#8221; Kabila said in a year-end address to the nation, which however did not directly address his own view on the talks.
Diplomats fear growing unrest could trigger a repeat of the wars between 1996 and 2003 that killed millions, unleashed dozens of predatory armed groups and drew in more than half a dozen neighbouring armies.
 
 
(Writing by Tim Cocks; editing by Diane Craft)
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© Thomson Reuters 2017 All rights reserved﻿

Congo ruling party, opposition sign deal for Kabila to step down

Talks to ease Congo President Joseph Kabila out of power next year and quell protests over him overstaying his mandate are hanging by a thread, an opposition leader said ahead of the resumption of the negotiations on Friday.
Only last week the sides appeared near a historic deal that could have paved the way for the first peaceful transfer of power through a democratic election since the country gained independence in 1960.
However, the talks hit a stumbling block over whether a new prime minister for Democratic Republic of Congo will come from the main opposition bloc and on the composition of the electoral commission, which the opposition accuses of pro-government bias.
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&#8220;At this stage, we are closer to a rupture than to a solution,&#8221; opposition leader Félix Tshisekedi said in a tweet. Other parties and mediators made no comment.
The talks between the ruling coalition and opposition parties organised by the Catholic church are set to resume for a make-or-break day at the headquarters of the conference of Catholic bishops in the capital Kinshasa.
Delegates said bishops acting as mediators met Kabila and veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi on Thursday.
Under the deal, Kabila would agree not to attempt to change the constitution to participate in elections to be held next year. His two-term mandate ended on Dec. 19 but authorities have effectively extended it until 2018.
That would have represented a significant turnaround given that security forces killed around 40 people last week for protesting the tenure of a leader who came to power in 2001 when his father Laurent was assassinated.
The opposition also wants authorities to drop charges against some of its leaders, arguing that the prosecutions are political.
A political deal could boost pro-democracy activists in other countries, given Congo&#8217;s size and sway on the continent.
But if the talks break down it could lead to more violent demonstrations. Police spokesman Colonel Pierre Mwanamputu said security was being stepped up for the New Year celebrations and to guard against unrest.
Millions died of starvation and disease in a war in Congo between 1996 and 2003 that sucked in a host of other African nations.﻿

Congo opposition leader says talks on political deal faltering

Gunfire could be heard in several districts of Kinshasa early on Tuesday as demonstrators demanded that President Joseph Kabila step down after his mandate expired at midnight, and measures to curb dissent fanned fears of more violence.
Reuters witnesses in various parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo&#8217;s capital city heard repeated gunshots, and one saw youths burning tires in the street. Protesters also set off fireworks and cheered, a Reuters witness said.
Demonstrators in the districts of Kalamu, Matete and Lingwala as well as at Kinshasa University blew whistles to signal to Kabila that it was time to leave. Students at the university also burned tires, multiple witnesses said.
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Kabila faces potentially one of his biggest challenges since he took power after his father was assassinated in 2001. Critics accuse him of clinging to power by letting his term run out with no election to name his successor expected until 2018.
Kabila has rarely spoken about the issue in public, but his allies say the election was delayed because of logistical and financial problems. The constitutional court has ruled that Kabila can stay on until the election takes place.
Some opposition leaders agreed Kabila can remain in office. But opponents, especially in Kinshasa, a city of 12 million, are not buying it. Diplomats have urged Kabila to step down to avoid triggering a massive crisis and possibly another civil war.
In what appeared to be an attempt at soothing opposition grievances, Kabila&#8217;s administration announced on state TV an expansion of the government by 17 ministerial posts to 65, many of them reserved for opposition members.
The main opposition coalition, which refused to accept the deal enabling Kabila to stay on, is unlikely to be appeased.
Scores of protesters have been arrested in the past 24 hours, mostly in the eastern city of Goma, according to human rights groups.
Authorities have blocked most social media and outlawed protests in Kinshasa. Those measures have raised fears of more violence in a nation that has suffered near constant war and instability in the two decades since the fall of kleptocrat Mobutu Sese Seko.
Western powers are nervous of a repeat of the conflicts between 1996 to 2003 that killed millions, drew in half a dozen neighboring armies and saw rebel fighters rape women en masse.
(Reporting by Tim Cocks and Aaron Ross; Additional reporting by Amedee Mwarabu in Kinshasa; Editing by G Crosse and Leslie Adler)﻿

Gun shots fired in Kinshasa as Kabila clings to power

The United Nations Security Council pushed for a peaceful transition of power in Congo during a weekend visit aimed at averting massive violence when President Joseph Kabila&#8217;s mandate runs out on Dec. 19.
The visit by diplomats from countries on the council on Saturday and Sunday aimed to break the deadlock over whether Kabila should step down before an election which, thanks to slow voter registration, has been delayed until at least April 2018.
He has vowed to stay on until the poll goes ahead, but the opposition accuse Kabila of manipulating the process to cling to power in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a charge his supporters deny.
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Several protests have erupted against Kabila, who has been in power since his father was assassinated in 2001. More than 50 people were killed in street protests in September.
Security Council members stressed that Kabila&#8217;s seeking to change the constitution to allow him to run for a third elected mandate, as the opposition accuse him of doing and some of his supporters suggest he might, would be no solution.
&#8220;The DRC is at a pivotal moment in its history,&#8221; Francois Delattre, France&#8217;s ambassador to the United Nations, told journalists after the meetings on Saturday.
&#8220;For the first time, a peaceful transition of power at the end of the president&#8217;s mandate is possible.&#8221;
Angola&#8217;s ambassador to the United Nations Ismael Abraao focused more on the peaceful resolution of the crisis.
&#8220;We have assurances. There is a desire from everyone to avoid the worst &#8230; The Security Council is ready to work with you so that there is peace,&#8221; he said.
But he added: &#8220;A third term has not been considered as a solution to the crisis. The solution lies in permanent dialogue.&#8221;
Leonard She Okitundu, a senator representing Kabila&#8217;s ruling coalition, sought to allay fears Kabila would seek another term.
&#8220;There is no question of a third term because the constitution forbids it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There can be no third term.&#8221;
World powers fear that the political impasse over Kabila staying on beyond Dec. 19 could reignite chaos in the vast Central African nation, where millions died in regional conflicts between 1998 and 2003.
Congo stepped up patrols in its volatile east after the former military chief of a rebel group was reported missing from a camp for demobilised fighters in neighbouring Uganda, although the Ugandan military said on Sunday that Sultani Makenga was in the country&#8217;s capital Kampala.
As often, there appeared to be mixed messages about Kabila&#8217;s intentions during the Security Council visit.
&#8220;UNSC asked #DRC Pres. Kabila to confirm he would not run in election. He said Constitution clear on no 3rd mandate but could be amended,&#8221; Stephen Hickey, political counsellor at the UK Mission to the United Nations, tweeted on Saturday.
&#8220;Very concerning that Pres. Kabila mentions possibility of amending constitution when asked straight question on standing for 3rd term,&#8221; he said in another Tweet.﻿

U.N. Security Council pushes for peaceful Congo transition

At least 44 people &#8211; including 37 demonstrators and six police officers &#8211; have been killed in protests over Congolese President Joseph Kabila&#8217;s perceived bid to extend his rule, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.
The unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo started on Monday after its election commission decided to try to postpone the next presidential vote, due in November. 
Kabila&#8217;s opponents say the proposed delay is a manoeuvre to keep him in power although ruling party politicians deny this. Kabila is barred constitutionally from running for a third term and his allies say he will respect the constitution.
With the disturbances forcing schools to close and halting public transport in the sprawling riverside capital Kinshasa, the United Nations expressed fears the situation could worsen.
The United States said Kabila&#8217;s government should have taken steps to defuse the violence and that it was prepared to impose sanctions targeting individuals involved in abuses.
French President Francoise Hollande blamed Congo authorities and urged them to respect the constitution and hold elections this year.
Adding to the mix of disapproval, Congo&#8217;s influential Roman Catholic Church suspended its participation in talks over the timetable for the next elections and stressed that Kabila should not be a candidate when they are held.
Several people were killed overnight when security forces burned down the headquarters of the main opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), and attacked buildings of other opposition parties, according to Ida Sawyer, an Africa researcher for New York-based HRW.
Twenty people were killed in clashes on Monday and another 17 on Tuesday &#8211; &#8220;most (of them) when security forces fired on crowds of protesters&#8221;, Sawyer said.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve also received credible reports that protesters have killed at least six police officers and a (ruling party) PPRD supporter and they have also burned and looted several shops and police stations.&#8221;
 
DEATH TOLL DISPUTED
Interior ministry spokesman Claude Pero Luwara said the death toll stood at 17 and that Human Rights Watch&#8217;s statement was a &#8220;typical&#8221; exaggeration by the group. The ministry had earlier said three of those killed were policemen.
The early hours fire was a criminal act, said opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi, a UDPS official and son of veteran opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi, who lost to Kabila in a 2011 presidential run-off.
&#8220;We have on our hands seven dead and two people who were amputated: one at the arm and another at the leg, in the fire at our headquarters in Limete. There are also multiple people wounded at the hospital,&#8221; Felix Tshisekedi told Reuters.
&#8220;We won&#8217;t live with this barbarity. The people are angry.&#8221;
Government spokesman Lambert Mende condemned the attack on the UDPS premises but denied that security forces were involved.
Witnesses said calm returned to central Kinshasa by Tuesday afternoon, though there were reports of clashes in the suburbs.
Nearly 200 people were believed to have been arrested by Congo authorities on Monday and the United Nations received reports of excessive use of force by security forces, U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.
Kabila took power in 2001 when his father was assassinated, but must by law step down in December.
His opponents fear he may follow the example of leaders in other African countries such as Burundi, Congo Republic and Rwanda and change the constitution to extend his rule.
Congo has not experienced a peaceful transition of political power since its independence from Belgium in 1960.
Tom Perriello, U.S. Special Envoy for Africa&#8217;s Great Lakes region, said Washington would hold all sides accountable for their actions during the latest violence, which prompted Washington to suspend all travel by its officials to Congo.
&#8220;Unfortunately, the pattern over the last year has been to dramatically reduce that open political space &#8230; We have seen a crackdown on the rights and freedoms of Congolese people,&#8221; he told a news conference in New York.
 
(Additional reporting by Amedee Mwarabu in Kinshasa, Tom Miles in Geneva and Emma Farge, Tim Cocks and Nellie Peyton in Dakar and John Irish at the United Nations; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by)
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