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Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo say at least 17 people have died during protests calling for President Joseph Kabila to step down.

Officials say the dead include three policemen and 14 civilians. The violence began Monday morning after several thousand opposition supporters gathered in the pro-opposition neighborhood of Limete, and at other points around the capital Kinshasa.

The plan was to march around the city before a delegation of 50 opposition leaders delivered a petition to the electoral commission. The Kinshasa governor had authorized the plan.

Instead, the situation quickly became tense and chaotic. Opposition leaders say police intimidated their supporters, dispersing them as they gathered and blocking their approach to the central meeting place.

Witnesses say some protesters threw stones and set tires and vehicles on fire, while police fired tear gas and live rounds at the demonstrators.

At midday, riot police and soldiers were stationed on the road leading to the demonstration meeting place near the parliament building. VOA saw security forces stopping at least six people who looked to be foreign observers and loading them into vehicles.

An opposition leader told VOA by phone that he and others were penned in at one of their party headquarters and unable to leave.

The opposition accuses Kabila of trying to extend his time in office unconstitutionally by delaying elections. Supporters of the president deny this.

Monday marked the day that Congo's electoral process should have kicked off ahead of November polls. But the electoral commission now says the polls should be delayed until next year to give it more time to compile a new voter list.

U.S., French reaction

The United States said it is disappointed that Congo did not announce an election calendar Monday, and said it is deeply alarmed by the reports of violence. It threatened to impose additional sanctions on Congolese officials responsible for violence and repression.

State Department spokesman John Kirby also said the United States is "outraged and deeply disturbed by the physical obstruction and verbal aggression aimed at U.S. Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa Tom Perriello while he was departing from the Kinshasa airport on September 18."

Kirby said Perriello was in Kinshasa to encourage dialogue on the electoral process and said before he left he was "blocked and verbally threatened" in an area of Kinshasa's airport that is tightly secured by Congolese authorities.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called the situation in Congo "very dangerous and extremely worrying." He told reporters at the United Nations in New York that if elections are "delayed endlessly, that means that Kabila intends to stay in power." He said that is "a situation that is not acceptable."

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Ban condemns the violence in Congo and urges Congolese national security forces to exercise maximum restraint in their response to protests.

Kabila took power in 2001 after his father was assassinated and has since won two elections.

A smaller Congolese opposition group has been meeting with the government in an attempt to organize a schedule for elections, but the main opposition has refused to participate in the talks.

VOA

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Rita Akana

20.Sep.2016

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Gabon’s Constitutional Court will recount the ballots cast in presidential elections last month following days of violent protests against the outcome that showed President Ali Bongo won by a margin of less than 10,000 votes.

“A recount of the vote will be completed by the Constitutional Court and the winner confirmed,” Michael Moussa-Adamo said in an open letter Tuesday to the New York Times. “The State Department and the African Union stated that any challenge to the election results conform to Gabonese election law. The Constitutional Court’s review will also conform to the law.”

Protesters burned down parliament and other symbols of state after the electoral commission announced Bongo won the election with 49.8 percent of the vote, against 48.2 percent for opposition leader Jean Ping. Bongo’s victory was due to the tally in his home province, where voter turnout was 99.93 percent. Opposition parties immediately rejected the result, saying a turnout of more than 99 percent among 71,714 voters wasn’t plausible.

The U.S. and the European Union have urged Gabon to publish the results per polling station, rather than for the nine provinces.

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Rita Akana

20.Sep.2016

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Rita Akana

20.Sep.2016

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Rita Akana

19.Sep.2016

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Congolese police and anti-government protesters clashed in the capital Kinshasa on Monday, killing at least eight people including three policemen, during a march against President Joseph Kabila's perceived bid to extend his mandate.

Police spokesman Colonel Pierre Mwanamputu put the toll at eight dead, including three police officers. At least two of them were burned, he said, and five civilians also died.

The protest attended by thousands came amid growing local and international pressure on Kabila to step down when his mandate legally ends in December.


The opposition accuse him of plotting to extend his tenure by delaying elections that were meant to happen in November until at least next year. His supporters deny the charge.

Earlier a Reuters witness saw a crowd burning the body of a police officer in the suburb of Limete in an apparent act of retaliation against police gunfire.

Georges Kapiamba, director of local NGO the Congolese Association For Access to Justice, said that security forces shot dead seven protesters.

Demonstrations also took place in other parts of the country, including Goma, Bukavu, and Beni, he added.

Dozens of people died in similar protests against Kabila last year.

The vast, mineral-rich central African country has never experienced a peaceful transition of power. Donors fear growing political instability could morph into armed conflict in a country plagued by militias, especially in its lawless eastern regions.

Millions died in regional wars in Congo between 1996-2003 that drew in armies from half a dozen countries.

Reuters

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Rita Akana

19.Sep.2016

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President Paul Biya and his entourage have been met with a big snub by Cameroonians upon their arrival  in New York , USA, on Sunday, September 18, 2016.

There  had been a call for a mobilization of Cameroonians in and around the New York area to come out in masses to welcome the 83 years old president, launched by the Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the United Nations in New York.This appeal was met with a very negative response .Out of all the invited Cameroonians who were expected to salute the president upon his arrival, only twenty people mostly militants of the CPDM political power showed up according to sources.

On the contrary, various anti Biya demonstrations have been announced for tomorrow Tuesday, September 20, 2016 in front of the UN headquarters in New York, to demand the departure of the Cameroonian strongman who has been in power  for over 34 years.

Paul Biya left  Yaounde on Friday, September 16, 2016, for New York, to take part in the 71st annual  session of the United Nations General Assembly. This session opens today Monday 19 September and runs till September 26, 2016. Cameroon's presidential couple are among the guests invited to attend the welcome reception to be offered on Tuesday 20 September, by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon and his wife.

Paul Biya will attend the opening of the general discussions  and a summit on refugees organized by US President Barack Obama. The Cameroonian Head of State will take the stand to address the UN forum on Thursday, September 22, 2016.

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Rita Akana

19.Sep.2016

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