DRC: Key Tshisekedi ally quits as national assembly deputy head

The vice president of Congo's parliament Jean-Marc Kabund resigned on Friday over what he described as bullying, humiliation and torture.

Kabund is a top ally of President Felix Tshisekedi. His resignation came two days after members of the president's guard force allegedly raided his Kinshasa home and arrested a man believed to be a guard.

CCTV footage shared by Kabund’s family showed six armed men in army uniform entering the garden of his property on Wednesday evening before arresting a man.

The raid came a day after a video surfaced on social media showing Kabund’s police guards wrestling a rifle off a member of the presidential protection force. It’s not clear how the confrontation began.

There's been no word from the army on the matter.

Observers say Kabund's resignation is a sign of growing cracks in Tshisekedi's ruling Sacred Union coalition ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

At the end of 2020, Tshisekedi ended an alliance with his predecessor Joseph Kabila and removed several of his allies from key posts.