Ousting hold-out regional governor, Congo’s president tightens control

Tshisekedi

President Tshisekedi shown with President Nguesso of neighboring Congo Republic. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

GOMA (Reuters)-Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi on Thursday struck a heavy blow against his predecessor and political rival Joseph Kabila as his allies ousted the governor of Tanganyika province.

It was the latest move by Tshisekedi’s supporters to seize levers of power from Kabila, whose younger brother Zoe Kabila has run the southeastern territory for the last two years and was the only governor refusing to align himself with Tshisekedi.

In October, Tshisekedi appointed three judges to Democratic Republic of Congo’s constitutional court, the first in a series of manoeuvres that unshackled him from Kabila, then his coalition partner.

Tshisekedi formed a new coalition in December and went on to remove Kabila’s allies at the head of both houses of parliament, along with the prime minister.

On Thursday, 13 lawmakers in Tanganyika voted to oust Zoe Kabila, while another 10 were not present, and none voted against, said Nkulu Nemba, president of the local assembly. They accused Zoe Kabila, among other things, of bad governance and misappropriating $1.9 million of unpaid salaries and other funds, according to the motion. Zoe Kabila declined to comment on the allegations.

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