DRC: Fayulu supporters dispersed by riot police at court

Police dispersed supporters of the runner-up in the Democratic Republic of Congo presidential election, Martin Fayulu, who gathered outside the constitutional court on Saturday.

Fayulu filed a fraud complaint with DRC’s Constitutional Court seeking annulment of the December 30 polls.

“We ask the whole of the DRC population to wake up and take things into their own hands when the time comes for us to take responsibility for our country. We are ready to give everything for this country, we are ready to win and to save this generation in this country’‘, said Fayulu supporter, Stephen Theodore.

Fayulu claimed that he won in a landslide in the December 30 ballot with more than 60 percent of votes. He accuses the winner, another opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi, of striking a deal with outgoing President Joseph Kabila to be declared the winner.

According to a Reuters witness, earlier in the day, about 50 Republican Guard soldiers and police officers surrounded Fayulu’s residence, dispersing dozens of his supporters, who had been chanting against Kabila and Tshisekedi.

Fayulu’s supporters have demonstrated in several cities since the results were announced.

Protests in the western city of Kikwit on Thursday January 10 turned violent, killing at least four demonstrators and two police officers.

Reuters