A senior adviser to the Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph
Kabila is denying reports the administration in Kinshasa has launched a
witch hunt against opposition leader Moise Katumbi Chapwe, an
international businessman who plans to contest a yet to be determined
presidential election.
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| FILE - Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Moise Katumbi Chapwe, is pictured during an interview, June 2, 2015 in Lubumbashi. |
Katumbi is in the United States for medical treatment, where he has reportedly been meeting senior officials in Washington.
Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi, Kabila’s chief diplomatic adviser says his
government doesn’t have a problem with the opposition leader’s meetings
in Washington or elsewhere.
“He is free to go wherever he wants and meet whomever he wants. The
only problem we may have with him is that he left the Congo for medical
reasons, he has a legal case in Congo. He still has to answer questions
on legal matters and he was asked not to say anything about the case
while traveling abroad. So he can meet with people, he can talk with
people as long as he doesn’t address the case, which is pending with the
Congolese judicial system, there is no problem with us,” said Karubi.
Katumbi was sentenced last month to three years in jail for fraud,
which analysts say effectively prevents him from contesting in a
presidential election.
His supporters say the government is going after Katumbi because he
is the only legitimate opposition choice who can wrest political power
from Kabila, whom they accuse of refusing to step down, despite his
second term set to expire by the end of the year.
Karubi says, "The fact of being a politician, the fact of being a
presidential candidate does not exonerate you from facing the justice,
if you commit a crime. That is what happened to him and it has nothing
to do with the government.”
Government opponents say it appears Kabila is not interested in
ensuring a smooth, peaceful and democratic handover of power by refusing
to allow elections to be held this year as stipulated in the
constitution. They accuse the president of subverting the constitution
he swore to protect.
But Karubi says due to technical challenges it is unlikely for
elections to be held this year. He says Kabila would peacefully hand
over power after the technical challenges in organizing elections are
resolved. He says the country faced similar technical problems in 2005,
which forced the elections to be postponed to 2006.
“Even the United Nations mission in the Congo came up with a
statement yesterday saying that because of technical problems, it would
be almost impossible to organize elections in the Congo this year." said
Karubi, "... we need maybe a year, maybe a year and half, but the
elections are in motion already. The registration for a new voter roll
is underway so elections will take place."
Critics have called for a transitional government after Kabila’s term
expires until polls can be held and a new government installed.
Karubi answers, “The transitional [government] is nowhere to be seen
in our constitution ... The key thing for us Congolese, all political
leaders to sit around the table and talk about when are we going to have
a clean election in order to decide the next step forward."
Voice of America
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