After spending nearly two decades in power, the Congolese president has decided to not run in the upcoming presidential election. But analysts say his resignation could be part of larger strategy by the regime.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Kurokawa
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Government spokesman Lambert Mende on Wednesday announced that Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila will not stand in the upcoming presidential election.
Under the constitution, Kabila is barred from running for a third term. However, he had previously showed no sign of giving up the presidency until Wednesday.
Instead, loyalist former Interior Minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, who is targeted by EU sanctions, will run as the ruling coalition's candidate in the December 23 election, Mende said.
The announcement marks a significant shift in the political landscape in DRC. Kabila has held the presidency since 2001, after taking over in the wake of the assassination of his father, former President Laurent-Desire Kabila.
Kabila has been in power since 2001, when he took over after his father was assassinatedImage: picture-alliance/dpa/N. Bothma
The regime's "war chest dwarfs those of most opponents. It has near total control of the security forces, and a strong footing in the (electoral commission) and the Constitutional Court," said a report published in April by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.
"Through all of these levers, the regime can dictate the timing of the electoral process and calibrate how much political space it allows the opposition in different parts of the country."
50 years of Kinshasa
Half a century ago, Leopoldville was renamed Kinshasa. The capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa's third largest metropolis after Lagos and Cairo and the city is booming.
Image: Per-Anders Petterson
The struggle for independence
In 1959, demonstrators took to the streets of Leopoldville to call for Congolese independence and the end of Belgian colonial rule. There was a brutal crackdown and 40 people were killed. A further 250 were injured. Independence was finally achieved on June 30, 1960.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/AKG Images/P. Almasy
Kinshasa's gyrobuses
1955: An electric bus, powered by energy stored in a rotating flywheel, is charged up at a docking station in Leopoldville. The gyrobuses had a range of 3 kilometers (2 miles) and were imported by Belgian colonial administrators from Switzerland. Ten million people travelled on them during their first year in operation.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Keystone Pictures
The arrival of a dictator
November 30, 1965: President Joseph Mobutu in parliament in Leopoldville. He had come to power five days earlier in a coup ousting President Joseph Kasavubu. One year later, Leopoldville was renamed Kinshasa. Mobutu's dictatorship lasted three decades until he was forced into exile in 1997.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Kinshasa titan
1974: Security personnel accompanying US boxing legend Muhammad Ali as he leaves the training center in Kinshasa. Ali defeated George Foreman in the "Battle of the Titans" on October 30, 1974. 60,000 fans watched the historic spectacle in Kinshasa Stadium and were joined by millions of television viewers around the globe.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
Ali's legacy
The late Muhammad Ali remains an inspiration to Kinshasa's youth to this day. There is a boxing club named "Muhammad Ali holds his head high" where boys and girls can learn to box. One girl told DW "I feel as if I'm Ali's granddaughter. I know so much about him."
Image: DW/S. Mwanamilongo
Traffic robots fight congestion
Robots, not police, direct the traffic at the central Asosa junction in Kinshasa. The robots, equipped with four cameras, send data to a control center which analyzes the traffic flow. The project is run by a group of Congolese engineers from the Kinshasa Institute of Applied Technology.
Image: D. Kannah/AFP/Getty Images
Kinshasa Fashion Week
Congolese designers scale the heights of fashion. Their creations are colorful, daring and elegant. This one was crafted by designer Papa Griffe and shown at the Kinshasa Fashion Week in July 2015. The annual fashion show was launched by Marie-France Idikayo in 2011 to promote African designers globally.
Image: DW/J. Bompengo
Not going to waste
This is also Kinshasa. Children search through rubbish for plastic which can be recycled. They bring what they find to recycling plants like this one, run by a local NGO "Vie Montante." The children receive a small but regular income in exchange for the plastic they collect.
Image: Vie montante Développement
Kinshasa 2016: Everything goes?
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."
Image: DW/S. Oneko
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Violent past
Since 2015, 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.
Congo has witnessed the deadliest conflict in modern African history, with two wars in the late 1990s and early 2000s 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 standardsImage: picture-alliance/dpa/Belga/H. Kaghat
