Brian McDonald
Congo’s army said it foiled a coup attempt on Sunday morning and arrested the perpetrators, including several foreigners, after attacks on the presidential palace and the residence of a close ally of Congo’s president left three people dead in the capital, Kinshasa.
Initially, local media outlets identified the gunmen as Congolese soldiers, but later reported that they were linked to self-exiled opposition figure Christian Malanga, who later published a video on Facebook threatening President Felix Tshisekedi.
Malanga was killed at the presidential palace after resisting arrest by guards, said Congolese army spokesman Brig. Gen. Sylvain Ekenge told the Associated Press.
Tshisekedi was re-elected president in December in a chaotic vote amid calls for his recall from the opposition over what they saw as a lack of transparency. The Central African country has witnessed similar trends in disputed elections in the past.
Ekenge said on state television on Sunday that the coup attempt was “nipped in the bud by the Congolese defense and security forces (and) the situation is under control.” Among the perpetrators were three Americans, including Malanga’s son, Ekenge later told the AP.
ARSENE MPIANA/AFP via Getty Images
The US ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lucy Tamlyn, said on social media that she was “shocked” and “concerned by reports of US citizens allegedly involved.” She said the US would cooperate with Congolese authorities.
This also came amid a crisis plaguing Tshisekedi’s ruling party over a parliamentary leadership election, which was supposed to be held on Saturday but was postponed.
Clashes were reported on Sunday between men in military uniform and guards of Vital Kamerhe, a federal lawmaker and candidate for president of Congo’s National Assembly, at his residence in Kinshasa, about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the presidential palace and where some embassies are also located.
Kamerhe guards stopped the gunmen, Michel Moto Muhima, the politician’s spokesman said on social media platform X, adding that two police officers and one of the attackers were killed in the shootout that began at around 4:30 am.
Images, apparently from the area, showed military trucks and heavily armed men parading through the neighborhood’s deserted streets as the army said the situation was under control.
However, the self-exiled Malanga appeared in the video broadcast live at the presidential palace surrounded by several people in military uniform and said: “Felix, you are out. We are coming after you.”
On its website, the opposition leader’s group – the United Congolese Party (UCP) – is described as “a grassroots platform that unifies the Congolese diaspora around the world, opposing the current Congolese dictatorship”.
Tshisekedi has yet to address the public about Sunday’s events.
On Friday, he met with parliamentarians and leaders of the ruling Sacred Union coalition in an attempt to resolve the crisis plaguing his party, which dominates the national assembly. He said he would not “hesitate to dissolve the National Assembly and send everyone to new elections if these bad practices persist.”
The US Embassy in Congo issued a security alert on Sunday, urging caution following “reports of gunfire.”
