Dozens arrested as protests erupt across DR Congo over Tshisekedi’s third-term bid

Dozens of people were arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday during protests against a proposed constitutional change that would give the incumbent president a green light to run for a third term in office, rights activists said.

Protests broke out in the capital Kinshasa and several other major towns around the country, with police firing tear gas to disperse crowds, the activists said.

The protests were called by Coalition Article 64 (C64), a broad opposition alliance opposed to constitutional amendments that could extend the term of office of President Felix Tshisekedi.

Video footage shared on social media showed hundreds of protestors who took to the streets in Kinshasa waving flags of various political parties.

The protests began peacefully, according to activists, but quickly degenerated into clashes between opposition supporters and pro-government sympathizers affiliated with the Force for Progress, an informal, ultra-nationalist youth movement linked to the ruling party.

Jean-Marc Kabund, one of the members of C64, said members of the Force for Progress attacked the protestors with machetes and other bladed weapons, prompting the police to break up the protests.

Timothee Mbuya, an activist with a local non-governmental organization (NGO) known as Justicia, said around 70 people were arrested in Haut-Katanga province.

The provincial coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission in Haut-Katanga, Joseph Kongolo, said police accompanied by soldiers repressed the protestors in Lubumbashi, a major mining center in the southeastern Congo, as well as in the provincial cities of Likasi and Kasumbalesa.

“A large police force was placed at all the gathering points where protestors met,” he told reporters.

Blaise Kilimbalimba, the Katanga provincial police commander, dismissed reports of arrests of peaceful protestors.

In Mbandaka, the capital of northwestern Equateur province, activists said about a dozen people were arrested, while roughly 100 activists were dispersed.

A member of the citizens' movement Struggle for Change, Gentil Nsefu, said a large police force had been deployed in the early hours of Tuesday in several strategic points in Mbandaka.

Similar protests were reportedly dispersed in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province.

There was yet no official communication on the arrests.

Former presidential candidate Martin Fayulu, one of the leaders of C64, said they were considering an international complaint against Tshisekedi for the violence subjected to the opposition activists.

“He wants to stay in power as long as possible. It won't work,” he told reporters.

The Congolese parliament adopted a bill in June allowing the proposed constitutional changes to be put to a ⁠referendum.

That same month, at least two people were reported killed and several injured in Congo when security forces opened fire to disperse hundreds of protestors opposed to the government-proposed constitutional change.