The body of longtime Congolese opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi arrived Thursday evening in Kinshasa as his son Felix – now the nation’s president – waited expectantly at the airport. The younger Tshisekedi then accompanied the body during a formal procession that stopped at his home and at the headquarters of…
It was February 2017 when longtime Congolese opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi died in Brussels, amid the turmoil of former president Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step aside after two terms leading the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now, the body of the late Tshisekedi will return to Kinshasa at last. His repatriation,…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Congolese sources say there’s a new deal to complete the burial arrangements for longtime political opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, who died in February 2017 in Brussels but 14 months later still has never had his remains repatriated to Democratic Republic of Congo. The Tshisekedi family, along with the Union for Democracy…
The Roman Catholic bishops who helped negotiate last year’s December 31 agreement on new elections in Democratic Republic of Congo have called on President Joseph Kabila to make clear he will not seek a third term. The National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) bishops released their statement during a press…
Congolese sources say that the long dispute over repatriation and burial arrangements for Etienne Tshisekedi, who died February 1 in Brussels, may soon come to an end. A spokesman for the Tshisekedi family confirmed Friday to AFP that the family, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party and the…
In a bleak assessment of current conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the influential Roman Catholic bishops have issued a call to Congolese to stand up and, drawing from the language of the nation’s anthem, “build a country more beautiful than today.” “It is imperative to involve ourselves, to…
President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo says he does not foresee holding the country’s stalled 2016 elections anytime soon, and has refused to rule out a third term for himself. Kabila’s remarks were part of an interview with German media outlet Der Spiegel, in which the defiant…
In Kinshasa, a dispute over funeral and burial arrangements for Etienne Tshisekedi, who died February 1 in Brussels, has again delayed the return of his remains to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tshisekedi’s body was to be repatriated on Friday, two months after the initial March 11 date was planned but then…
A new date has been set for the body of Etienne Tshisekedi, who died February 1 in Brussels, to return to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Felix Tshisekedi, son of the late politician and opposition leader, said Thursday that the body is now scheduled to return to Kinshasa on May…
A spokesman for Democratic Republic of Congo has dismissed the importance of a National Episcopal Conference of the Congo (CENCO) bishops’ statement on Friday that said the appointment of Bruno Tshibala as prime minister was a breach of the December 31 political agreement CENCO mediated. Spokesman Lambert Mende told Congolese…
The Democratic Republic of Congo has announced that opposition political leader Bruno Tshibala will serve as new prime minister. President Joseph Kabila appointed Tshibala on Friday, following his public promise two days earlier to choose a prime minister within 48 hours. Tshibala replaces Samy Badibanga, who resigned on Thursday. Tshibala…
Concerned about the apparent failure of the CENCO-mediated political agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United States has urged both Congolese government officials and the Rassemblement opposition coalition to redouble their efforts to overcome their disagreements. “The United States is disappointed by lack of progress in implementation of…
”Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth.” On March 3, in a prescient last Twitter message sent by United Nations expert Zaida Catalan before she disappeared in the Kasai region of Democratic Republic of Congo, Catalan passed along this ancient proverb often attributed to…
The death of longtime opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi on February 1 has left the opposition coalition in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) no choice but to reorganize – a process that in recent days has been contentious enough to cast a shadow on the future of the Rassemblement coalition, at…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Church officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have called for an end to a string of violent attacks against Roman Catholic churches and facilities in the country. The National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) and MONUSCO, the UN Organization Stabilization Mission for DR Congo, issued a joint statement Friday…