DRC: Botswana calls for Joseph Kabila’s resignation

Following the Kabila marches organized by the Catholic Church, the resignation of Joseph Kabila is more than ever on the agenda. Botswana calls on President Kabila to resign.

In a press release entitled “Refusal of some leaders to hand over power”, the Ministry of International Affairs said that “the deterioration of the humanitarian situation” in the DRC is due to the fact that “its leader delays the elections and lost the security control “.

It reads:

PRESS RELEASE – REFUSAL OF SOME LEADERS OF HAND OVER POWER

Gaborone, February 26, 2018: The Government of the Republic of Botswana wishes to express her concern about the disturbing trend that some political leaders refuse to hand over power at the end of their term. These leaders now resort to measures such as postponing the holding of elections or amending the national constitution to extend their mandate.

“It is clear that such leaders are guided by their own interests, not by those of the people they govern. The Democratic Republic of Congo is a typical example. We continue to witness the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in this country, mainly because its leader is delaying the elections and has lost control of the security of his country.

Botswana, therefore, calls on the international community to exert more pressure on the leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to give up power and pave the way for the advent of a new political order,” said Botswana government.

The army and opposition supporters clash regularly following President Kabila’s refusal to resign.

Having become President of the DRC in 2001, after the assassination of his father Laurent Désiré Kabila, the mandate of Joseph Kabila ended in 2016. But the latter refuses so far to yield power. The elections were postponed until December 23, 2018.