Kabila was the number two man in a weak and poorly-trained army when he came to power. In a peace agreement signed in South Africa , Kabila decided to share power with the main leaders of the armed opposition groups leading to most fighters putting down their weapons.
There was a huge number of armed groups. It will be seriously unfair. The country did not exist. But ongoing conflicts in parts of the country like North Kivu, Ituri and Kasai provinces have uprooted hundreds of thousands. An average of 5, people fled their homes every day in the country this year, according to a report released by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
DR Congo is one of the poorest countries on the African continent. Transparency International ranked the country out of in its corruption perceptions index. Under Mobutu's regime this would have been unthinkable. Performance artist Julie Djikey turned herself into a "human automobile" with her body dripping with oil and oil filters on her breasts to protest against pollution.
Her message to the women of Kinshasa: "The measure of a woman's courage is the strength of her resolve when faced with difficulties and suffering. Since , large-scale protests have called for the president to resign alongside fresh elections.
But the protests were often met with deadly suppression by security forces. Human rights organizations had warned that large-scale violence could erupt in the event Kabila failed to step down. His decision to step down came hours before the official deadline to apply as a candidate for the December elections.
Congo has witnessed the deadliest conflict in modern African history, with two wars in the late s and early s that left more than 3 million people dead. From DRC to Belgium, activists have called on Kabila to step down and pave the way for free and transparent elections in accordance with international standards.
Each evening at UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. Visit the new DW website Take a look at the beta version of dw. Go to the new dw. More info OK. Wrong language? The process, say critics, has not only been a setback for democracy in Congo, but also for the continent as a whole, where other leaders may now conclude they can steal a vote with a nod and a wink from foreign leaders.
His allies also won a majority of seats in provincial assemblies which elect governors and senators and will probably give it control over who becomes Senate president. One rumour is that Mr Kabila himself could conceivably take up that role. At his inauguration, Mr Tshisekedi tried to act like any victorious candidate.
During a minute speech, he called for unity. Reading a litany of outcomes that few believe can be easily accomplished, he promised to release political prisoners, end discrimination, clamp down on predatory state officials and boost revenues from natural resources. The task he faces is formidable. Even if he had a free hand, he would have to rebuild a collapsed health and education system and rejuvenate a political class that has proved more interested in enriching itself than in delivering public services.
In the east of the country, barely accessible from the capital Kinshasa, he has to contend with an outbreak of Ebola , the second worst in history, which has already claimed more than lives.
Not only that, the heavily populated provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, neither of which are loyal to Mr Tshisekedi, are home to more than armed militias. The omens are not good. The crowd held its breath. A spokesperson for the new president later said his bulletproof vest — an-as-yet unfamiliar presidential accoutrement — had been too tight.
Lacking legitimacy and a parliamentary majority, Mr Tshisekedi does indeed have an uncomfortable burden to bear. His near-collapse on stage was not, perhaps, the most auspicious of starts.
Mr Tshisekedi did not publish a policy program during the campaign, neither does he have previous government experience nor a prolonged professional career, which might guide miners. Under Mr Kabila, mining investment boomed but companies had to cope with entrenched corruption and frequent shakedowns from tax agencies and state-owned partners. Any reversal of a contentious new mining code that dramatically boosted operating costs for miners last year is unlikely given its local popularity, but the change in government may present a new opportunity for engagement.
The stakes are high. He is among eight senior DR Congo government officials targeted by European Union sanctions last year, our correspondent adds. Mr Kabila became president when his father Laurent Kabila was assassinated in He was elected in , and secured another term in controversial elections in The year-old leader refused to leave office when his term expired in December The country's electoral commission said at the time that it could not organise elections until because violence in the eastern Kasai region had impeded registration of voters.
Opposition groups however saw it as a ploy by Mr Kabila to extend his time in office. An anti-Kabila protest in September was violently repressed leaving dozens dead. The government then banned public demonstrations. Amnesty International lead researcher in DR Congo, Jean-Mobert Senga, welcomed Mr Kabila's plan not to seek a third term but added that his government must now ensure that people can freely exercise their voting rights during the election period.
The rights body also called on the lifting of a ban on peaceful demonstrations.
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