Six dead in Congo clashes

Demonstrators protesting alleged corruption in Congo’s local and legislative elections turned violent today, leaving more than six dead in several towns, authorities and witnesses said.

The protests, led by a group allied with former warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba, now a senator, were reported in five towns in the south-western Bas-Congo province.

Shops and street stalls were closed in Matadi, Moanda, Boma, Kasangulu and Kinzaomvwete, and residents took cover as protesters barricaded streets with the shells of destroyed cars, local radio reported.

A regional police official put the death toll at about 20. The official declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to reporters, and the figure could not be independently confirmed.

Three people were killed in Matadi, the city’s mayor said on state radio. At least five were dead in Moanda, a human rights organisation said. “There are four policemen and one military officer among the dead in Moanda,” said Honore Kapuku of Voice for the Voiceless.

The group that led the protests, named Bundu Dia Kongo, meaning Empire of Congo, is closely tied with Bemba, who lost the presidential election last year to President Joseph Kabila.

Bemba’s militia clashed with Kabila’s forces twice last year, as results were announced in the initial vote and the run-off that marked Congo’s first free elections for a head of state since wresting independence from Belgium in 1960.

The protesters today also complained about last week’s elections for local governors and senators, claiming they were tainted.

“The people of Bas-Congo are revolted by the corruption which has infected our electoral system like gangrene,” said Ne Mwanda Ne Semi, the group’s leader.

Congo’s interior minister called for an emergency meeting on security in the region. He could not be reached for comment.