Kinshasa — The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) President Joseph Kabila has replaced the national police chief and the police commander in the capital Kinshasa, as security concerns rise following his refusal to step down when his mandate expired. Mass prison breaks, kidnappings, rising militia violence and surging lawlessness since Kabila failed to step down in December have raised fears the DRC could slip back into the chaos and conflict of the turn of the century that killed millions. About 4,000 inmates escaped from Kinshasa’s main prison in May and unidentified assailants killed at least two people and wounded six police officers in an attack on the city’s largest market last Friday, leading some Kabila allies to call for a state of emergency. In an decree read late on Monday evening on national TV, Kabila named Dieudonné Amuli Bahigwa as replacement for Charles Bisengimana as chief of the national police. Amuli is a veteran army general who led military operations in easte...
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