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Republic of Congo's Mokoko refuses to honour police summons

Republic of Congo's Mokoko refuses to honour police summons

Republic of the Congo

Former Republic of Congo army chief, Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko has refused to comply with a summon from the country’s police force.

The police summoned him on Thursday to appear on Friday and issued another summon on Friday after he failed to honour the earlier one.

Although the reason for the summons is not yet clear, it is believed to be in relation with a viral video in which the former ally of President Denis Sassou Nguesso is plotting his overthrow.

In a telephone interview with Africanews, Jean-Marie Mokoko said the police had no locus to summon him adding that they could come for him if they so wished.

The former advisor to the Congolese president who until early February served as a Special Representative of the Chairperson of the Africa Union in the Central African Republic further explained that he still enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

Mokoko recently announced his intention to contest Congo’s presidential election scheduled for March 20.

He will be facing off with a dozen other candidates who are hoping to take over the country’s top job.

General Mokoko was recently restrained by security forces at the Maya-Maya airport in Brazzaville when preparing to travel to the country’s coastal city of Pointe-Noire to meet his supporters.

Incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso will be pushing for a third term in office at the polls.

He is one of Africa’s longest-serving rulers, first coming to power in 1979 and ruling until 1992 when he lost the elections. He returned as president in 1997 after a brief civil war and has since won two elections.

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