End of the line for Congo’s Kabila?
Joseph Kabila has picked an awkward candidate as his preferred successor. The opposition is divided and undermined by ego. But whatever the outcome of the presidential poll next week, it’s clear the DRC is finally on a new path
Joseph Kabila has never given so many interviews or had such a broad smile. As the Congolese president met with the press in Kinshasa on December 9, two weeks ahead of historic elections, it was as if he was enjoying the media’s attention for the first time in his 17 years in the presidency. The role of patriarch of the nation about to step down and dispense his wise counsel to his successor seemed to suit him well. But Kabila’s hint at a possible return in 2023 will not please the majority of Congolese, nor reassure them that the polls they are about to take part in will be free and fair. "Well, I am not going to rule out anything in life," Kabila told journalists. "As long as you are alive and you have ideas as strong as you have — a vision — you should never rule out anything." The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is at an unprecedented crossroads in its history. It is hoped that elections scheduled for December 23 will determine its first peaceful and democratic transfer of po...
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