Congo opposition strike off to a slow start

Opposition parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo began a general strike“ville morte” on Tuesday, demanding that president Joseph Kabila should step down when his term expires in December.

Business in some parts of Kinshasa came to a stand still as some heeded the opposition call .

“The people want elections within the constitutional time frame. But this Kodjo wants dialogue in the spirit of Mr Kabila. We don’t want Kabila’s dialogue. Today is is ‘Operation Kodjo Get out’. On September 19 Kabila must leave. On December 20 choose for yourselves,” said Christian Mutombo, an opposition supporter.

However, the strike had a lesser uptake compared to one in February as it was ignored other major cities in the country.

Edem Kodjo the African Union (AU) appointed facilitator opened talks on Tuesday on the time table of the polls ,but the main opposition alliance led by Etienne Tshisekedi boycotted the talks arguing that it is a ploy by government to delay the vote.

Some opposition leaders however joined in the talks which are expected to last until Saturday.

Elections were due to be held in November but the country’s electoral commission said on Saturday that the voters registry will not be complete until July 2017, a strong indication that the elections will be delayed.
Reuters