Spain-based DRC party official murdered

A Spain-based official of a political party that is in coalition with DR Congo President Joseph Kabila has been reported murdered amid a spike in pre-election violence in the Central Africa state.

Mr Paul Bimba Mazembe, 35, the executive secretary of the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), was reportedly murdered by fellow Congolese after he attended a political meeting in Barcelona, where he had been resident.

Speaker of the National Assembly Evariste Boshab accused unnamed politicians of “exporting political violence” to Europe, accusations opposition leaders immediately rejected.

“UDPS and other political parties belonging to the opposition are never violent. We absolutely deny such an accusation,” declared Mr Martin Fayulu, a member of Mr Etienne Tshisekedi’s party.
Similar cases of political violence involving Congolese have been reported in several other European.

At the same time, several people were injured when supporters of the government and the opposition clashed in Katanga, in southeast DRC, witnesses reported as the November 28 elections draw near.

The clashes in Kamina, 600km northeast of the Katanga capital of Lubumbashi, were between backers of President Kabila and those of Mr Tshisekedi.

Ruling Unafec party supporters attacked those of the UDPS who had burnt a portrait of President Kabila, who is seeking a second mandate in the vast, mineral-rich African nation, the witnesses said.

A number of people were injured and treated in hospital at Kamina.

Last Friday, Mr Tshisekedi's supporters clashed with ruling party followers in Katanga where he was on a campaign tour, leaving six wounded.

Violence has broken out in several towns in the DRC since the start of the campaign on October 28.

The European Union, the US, France and the United Nations, which has a large peacekeeping contingent in the DRC, have urged restraint and called on all sides to refrain from inflammatory statements ahead of the polls.