Combat troops in the DR Congo marched through the streets of the capital Kinshasa over the weekend following a failed coup and the arrest of the alleged perpetrators.
Dressed in their combat gears, almost 5,000 men belonging to this elite FARDC troops unit deployed through the main arteries of the city of Kinshasa showing strentgth to protect the Head of State and the country’s institutions.
According to human rights activist, Georges Kampiamba, presidential security adviser Francois Beya was arrested by forces from Congo’s National Intelligence Agency on suspicion of undermining state security.
Mr Beya is seen as one of the most powerful figures in the African country and is accused of attempting to oust President Felix Tshisekedi, who came to power in December 2018. No details have been released about his arrest, though he was believed to still be in National Intelligence Agency’s custody.
The son of the late Congolese opposition political icon, Felix Tshisekedi won the presidential election in December 2018 after then-President Joseph Kabila did not run for a third term. It was Congo’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960.
Kabila’s party remained influential with a majority in the parliament so a coalition government was formed. However, Tshisekedi dissolved that alliance two years later amid political deadlock and mustered enough support to then sideline Kabila’s party.
Tshisekedi named a new prime minister last February after a Kabila ally who held the post resigned when lawmakers voted overwhelmingly for his ouster.
