A puppet is set to replace the president
Joseph Kabila will still pull the strings after stepping down
“WE WANT ELECTION day to be a party, not a day people lose their lives,” says President Joseph Kabila (pictured). After a ballot scheduled for December 23rd, he is planning to step down, he says. Having ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo for 18 years, he is constitutionally required to. Entertaining foreign journalists (a rare event) at his farm east of Kinshasa, the capital, he is mild-mannered. He chuckles at tough questions, and wanders off topic when disinclined to answer. Asked if the election will be free and fair, however, he is direct: “No question about that.” Few outside his circle concur.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Sitting pretty”
From the December 15th 2018 edition
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