DR Congo: Following Kinshasa recall, Haut-Katanga governor missing
The governor of Haut Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jacques Kyabula, has reportedly been absent from public life since at least July 10. According to reports, Kyabula vanished after being called to Kinshasa.
Although the cause for the summons is unknown, rumors suggest that Kyabula may have made remarks that were interpreted as favoring former rebel commander Corneille Nangaa and former president Joseph Kabila.
In order to promote peace and economic growth, Nangaa, the head of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) movement, which holds large areas of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, underlined in April the importance of a violence-free DR Congo. He claimed that in order to lower the level of violence in the nation, the Democratic Republic of the Congo must develop a functional state with an administration, police, army, and legal system free from corruption.
After the country’s military high court charged Kabila with treason and war crimes, the DR Congo Senate approved a resolution in May that revoked his immunity.
Kabila has attacked the populism, deceit, and haughtiness of President Felix Tshisekedi’s administration.
Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani summoned Kyabula, but he did not answer, and Congolese officials issued a search warrant, according to a Thursday, July 17 article by Jeune Afrique. The French journal states that the governor’s family, however, denied any involvement in his “disappearance,” stating that he was in Lubumbashi.
The Deputy Minister of Customary Affairs, Jean Baptiste Ndeze, nominated an interim head of province in a memo obtained by Radio Okapi on Wednesday, citing Kyabula’s “unavailability.”
