Moïse Katumbi, a prominent political figure and candidate in the upcoming presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), suspended two campaign events following a violent incident at an election rally on Wednesday.
Katumbi said that police fired live rounds during the event while Kongo Central governer Guy Bandu stated that Katumbi’s guards fired warning shots after the crowd grew disorderly and rowdy. Several people were reportedly injured, including a police officer.
Katumbi, in a post shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), alleged that the incident had been orchestrated by anti-opposition activists to incite violence ahead of the December elections:
The serious incidents that punctuated the Moanda meeting demonstrate the weakness of our adversaries who are overcome by the fear of losing power. I salute all the people who were victims of the violence caused by criminals who wore the symbols of a majority party. The images, the live ammunition fired by the police, and the testimonies confirm that these incidents were programmed, planned and orchestrated with a desire to commit crime. God wanted it otherwise.
He went on saying, “In order not to give in to further provocations, I have decided to temporarily suspend my meeting with the populations [in the cities] of Kananga and Tshikapa.”
Katumbi, who was governor of the DRC’s former Katanga province from 2007 to September 2015, has been a key player in the country’s political landscape since first joining the National Assembly in 2006. His governance of the Katanga province has been praised for bringing ‘economic revival’ to the area, with Katumbi developing infrastructure, encouraging foreign investment and targeting corruption. Most notably, after taking office, Katumbi introduced an export ban for raw minerals such as cobalt and copper. The DRC has the world’s largest reserves of cobalt and the seventh-largest reserves of copper, both of which are regarded as “essential” resources in the global pursuit of clean, renewable energy. His export ban effectively forced major mining companies to build processing plants in the Katanga province or pay the required tax on the exported concentrate.
Katumbi is one of more than two dozen candidates in the upcoming presidential election, wherein incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi is seeking reelection for a second five-year term.
The violent incident in Moanda is the latest in a series of challenges encountered during this election, with problems arising concerning the distribution of voting materials due to a lack of paved roads, as well as conflict in the rebel-plagued eastern provinces, where a UN peacekeeping mission has been deployed.
The election is set to take place on December 20.
