Congolese Catholics march in Kinshasa against 'tainted' poll boss

Hundreds of Catholics in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital Kinshasa on Sunday (July 19) took to the streets.

The protesters denounced the appointment of Ronsard Malonda as chairman of the independent national electoral commission. They accuse him of manipulating and rigging during the country’s last general election.

Gertrude EKombe, a march organiser said: “We are marching for the CENI, this time we want a depoliticized CENI, a credible CENI so that we no longer know the chaos that we experienced in 2018.”

Hervé Diakiese, a key member of the protest movement added: “There were young people who were shot, killed in in front of churches in order that we might have credible elections.

“And it’s this memory that we carry. So, we can no longer accept that the stage for the electoral chaos that was carried out in 2018 is once again set.”

The march is the third protest organized within ten days in the Congolese capital. The peaceful march was accorded police protection unlike the July 9 protest which claimed the lives of at least five protesters.

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