A burnt-out case

Kabila’s not going anywhere

FROM the outside, the offices of FONUS, a political party in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, look relatively unchanged. The gate is still in the blue and yellow colours of the national flag; the party president’s picture still hangs in the doorway. Inside, however, is chaos. Two large printing machines have been turned into a pile of blackened and twisted metal. The corrugated iron roofing is on the floor. A party member explains how at 3am on September 20th two jeeps full of soldiers arrived, broke in and poured petrol everywhere. Then one of them fired a rocket into the printing room.

The FONUS office was not alone. The road it sits on, opposite the national football stadium, is lined with buildings festooned with political flags and posters. Several of them, all from opposition parties, now have smashed windows and blackened walls. They were attacked after a protest on September 19th against President Joseph Kabila’s failure to organise elections. That turned into a looting spree, which was in turn put down with bullets by Mr Kabila’s personal guards. Around 50 people were killed; two police...Continue reading

Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/2dcBPNg

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