Botswana’s new president urges DR Congo’s Joseph Kabila not to run in December vote
Botswana’s new president Mokgweetsi Masisi has urged his Democratic Republic of Congo’s counterpart Joseph Kabila not to stand for re-election in the country’s 23 December election.
Masisi’s call means he takes a similar stance as that of his predecessor Ian Khama, who on more than one occasion, called upon Kabila to step aside.
“The president of the DRC has stayed in power longer than the time that was expected,” President Masisi, who took office this month, said during an interview with London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies streamed on its website on Thursday.
“Hopefully we can get from (Kabila) a real commitment to not attempt to come back to power by whatever means,” he added.
Kabila failed to leave office at the end of his term in December 2016, following a failure by the country to conduct a presidential election to find his replacement.
The electoral authority said then that it was unable to hold the vote due to logistical challenges. Opposition leaders however accused Kabila of frustrating the electoral process in order to cling on to power. Kabila however denied the claims.
Last month, the central African nation’s Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala said in an interview with BBC news agency that Kabila would not seek re-election in the December vote, or alter the constitution to allow his name on the ballot.
Opposition leaders however still suspect that he would still try to cling on to power.
The failure to hold the presidential vote as scheduled in November 2016 sparked violence in the DR Congo, escalating an already dire situation caused by ethnic clashes.
Masisi in the interview acknowledged the DR Congo’s potential, blaming the international community for not intervening.
“The DRC is potentially the richest country in Africa and arguably one of the richest in the world,” he said. “The world has failed the DRC.”
The announcement of the election date came following pressure from the U.S., with its ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warning that the Donald Trump administration would cut funding to the DR Congo if the elections were not held.
