DRC: Election results seem to be certain while opposition politician got shot

Wednesday 23rd, November 2011 / 17:36 Written by

 Independent observers expect the upcoming general presidential elections on the November 28 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to be won by its current president Joseph Kabila. While the outcome of the elections seems to be clear, a local opposition politician was killed tuesday night in Kinshasa.

Police inspector general Charles Bisengimana announced today that Marius Gangale, a provincial opposition politician was shot in Kinshasa. According to capitalFM, Kinshasa police chief Jean de Dieu Oleko told AFP

We have opened an investigation. A team is working on the case to provide more elements on the circumstances and motive.

Marius Gangale and his wife were in a car in Kinshasa when they were attacked by two armed persons. They shot Gangale through the window and stole the couple’s belongings. It is still unclear if the attack was politically motivated or if it was only a robbery.

Gangale was a leading politician in the oppositional party Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) but he was not running for the presidency in the Novemeber 28 elections.

Human Rights groups for their part express their concern for peaceful and fair elections in the Central African country with a population of about 70 million people. They are concerned about a possible increase of violence and hate-speech campaigns.

But even with mysterious attacks on opposition politicians and an insecure situation it needs to be seen if leading opposition candidate Etienne Tshisekedi can endanger Kabila’s position.

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Fields of work: Environment, Fisheries, History, Countries: Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Zimbabwe Part of eufrika.org since: January 2011

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