DRC tycoon seeks permission to return



[ad_1]

Multimillionaire and political heavyweight Moise Katumbi on Monday said he was seeking permission to return to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this week to contest the presidential elections in one of Africa's most volatile countries.

Katumbi said in a phone interview with Lubbashi, capital of Katanga province.

* Sign up to News24's news Africa in your inbox : SUBSCRIBE TO THE HELLO AFRICA NEWSLETTER

FOLLOW News24 Africa on Twitter and Facebook

Katumbi, 53, to train governor of the mineral-rich province, has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium since May 2016 after falling out with President Joseph Kabila.

g 1965 (19659002) Katumbi's lawyer Eric Dupond (19659002) He was also on trial for allegedly hiring mercenaries and for possessing an Italian pbadport. -Moretti said in Paris last week that the following cases were a "judicial farce," adding: "If he is arrested, the decision will be strictly arbitrary."

'Successor'

Kabila, a soldier trainer, has been in power since 2001, when he was taken over by his murdered father.

Presiding over a government-wide government, criticized as corrupt and incompetent, December 1965 at the end of his second elected mandate.

But he has remained in power until a successor is elected, provoking street protests that have been bloodily repressed.

Kabila has vowed to respect the constitution but so far not spelt out if he will contest

However,

"He wants every (pro-Kabila political) group to be a candidate for the future." The FCC – a "great political electoral coalition"

The FCC – a "great political electoral coalition" – was created by the firm this year "to provide support for a single candidate" for the elections. It has named Kabila as its "moral authority."

Both Katumbi, a Greek businessman and a Congolese mother, and Kabila hail from Katanga, a sprawling region of the size of Spain, and were once allies.

The sprawling province is a microcosm of some of the DRC's problems – an explosive mix of political rivalry intertwined with personal economic interests.

Katumbi's badets include the Congolese football club TP Mazembe which has won the CAF Champions League.

Another potential rival to Kabila is former warlord and ex-vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba, 55, who was in charge of war crimes in The Hague.

He has vowed to return to Kinshasa on Wednesday to file his election bid. Candidates must be in the country to their applications.

His party previously said that he would arrive in Gemena, on Tuesday. But on Monday it said he did not have permission for landing

[ad_2]
Source link