Opposition leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Moise Katumbi, has been given a deadline to submit his candidacy for president in the December elections.
Katumbi has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium since 2016 and has been denied permission to return home.
His supporters say they will today meet him in the town of Kasumbalesa, on the Zambian border, to bring him back so he can submit his election candidacy by the deadline on Wednesday 8 August.
The DRC government had earlier refused to register Katumbi as a presidential candidate, which angered his supporters in South Africa.
Congolese living in South Africa are outraged over the decision by the DR Congo’s government not to allow presidential hopeful Moise Katumbi to return home and contest the much anticipated December polls.
Opposition leader Katumbi has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium since May 2016 after falling out with DRC President Joseph Kabila.
He was handed a three-year jail term in absentia in his home province of Lubumbashi for alleged property fraud.
The DRC government has now refused to register Katumbi as a presidential candidate, which has angered his supporters in South Africa.
“This illegal government has no power to refuse Moise Katumbi entry to his home. He is a Congolese citizen and has rights to go home. If there is a judgement against him, let it be done at home. He is our candidate and the future for the DRC,” says one supporter.
Another one says, “Allow our president to be in Lubumbashi. Kabila is trying to stop him; because he knows he is the only candidate for the people…we want democracy in the Congo.”
