KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congolese police and soldiers on Sunday set up checkpoints across the capital Kinshasa and fired teargas at opposition supporters who had gathered outside a church to protest against President Joseph Kabila.
Authorities ordered internet and SMS services to be cut following calls by Catholic activists for a protest march after Sunday mass. The activists are demanding that Kabila commit to not changing the constitution to stand for a third term and to release political prisoners.
At the Notre Dame du Congo cathedral in Kinshasa’s Lingwala district, where opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi was attending mass, dozens of police and soldiers blocked the path of more than 100 opposition supporters as they prepared to try to march.
Tshisekedi, however, who had backed the activists’ call to march, left the church in a vehicle, spurring angry shouts from the crowd, which said he was abandoning them.
The police have banned demonstrations and said that all gatherings of more than five people will be dispersed. Across the city, police and soldiers searched vehicles and checked passengers’ identifications.
Kabila’s ruling coalition and opposition leaders struck a deal last Dec. 31 that allowed Kabila to stay in power beyond the end of his second and final term but required that the election to replace him be held by the end of 2017.
The country’s electoral commission, however, later said that was not possible and scheduled the vote for Dec. 23, 2018.
Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Gareth Jones