May 12. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The four main Congolese opposition leaders have announced this Friday the postponement of their great march against the Government, initially scheduled for Saturday, to next May 20 after denouncing the lack of security measures necessary to protect its participants.
The Lamuka coalition has been preparing for weeks a big day of rallies in the country’s main urban centers, including the capital, Kinshasa, to denounce the alleged passivity of the Congolese government during the conflict with the March 23 Movement (M23) militia and the inability of the East African Community (EAC) regional force to defuse the situation.
In their joint appearance, Martin Fayulu, Moise Katumbi, Delly Sesanga and Matata Ponyo have denounced the existence of a conspiracy to sabotage the protests “with a machete”, which is why it was decided to postpone the marches for a week to reinforce preparations for security, Sesanga declared in comments collected by the Congolese portal 7sur7.
The country’s president himself, Félix Tshisekedi, criticized on Wednesday the existence of a “cohabitation” between the regional force of the EAC and the M23 in parts of the east of the African country, at the same time that he announced that these troops could withdraw from the area during in June, amid disputes over the interpretation of the length of the mandate.
The M23 is a rebel group made up mainly of Congolese Tutsis and operating mainly in the North Kivu province. Following a conflict between 2012 and 2013, the RDC and the group signed a peace agreement in December. In these combats, the Congolese Army had the support of United Nations troops.
EAC General Secretary Peter Mathuki has called President Tshisekedi’s criticism “unfair”. “Saying that the regional force does nothing, in this short time, is not fair,” said Mathuki, who, however, acknowledged that the rate of implementation of his mandate “is not as expected,” as reported by the radio station Radio France Internationale.
