The Army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today claimed to have thwarted an attempted coup d’état in which a group of uniformed and armed men assaulted the residences of the president and the vice prime minister. The same sources indicate that the assailants, Congolese and foreigners, have been arrested and the situation is under control.
During the early hours of the morning, Congolese diaspora activist Christian Malanga, who claims to be a former soldier, broadcast several live videos on his Facebook page in which a group of armed men in military uniforms can be seen in the lobby and gardens. of the Palace of the Nation, residence of the president, Félix Tshisekedi.
The assailants burned flags of the DRC while carrying others of Zaire, the former name of the DRC. “Enjoy the liberation of our new Zaire,” Malanga shouted in English, while the rest of the men also spoke in French and Lingala, a Bantu language used in northwest DRC and much of the neighboring Republic of Congo. The attackers claim that they come from the diaspora, that they bring their children with them and that they are fighting to remove Tshisekedi from power, according to local media.
Around 4:30 local time (3:30 GMT) armed men also broke into the residence of the deputy prime minister and Minister of Economy of the DRC, Vital Kamerhe, in an attack that left at least three dead: two police officers in charge of security of the politician and an aggressor. “Kamerhe and his family are safe and healthy. His security has been reinforced,” declared the minister’s spokesman, Michel Moto, in a message posted on his X profile.
“There were still shots at 6:24 (4:24 GMT), according to the residents of the area,” the Japanese ambassador to the DRC, Hidetoshi Ogawa, also wrote in X, urging citizens to “spend a good Sunday at home.”
Security has been reinforced in the La Gombe district of Kinshasa, capital of the DRC, where both residences and some of the main government and diplomatic headquarters of the DRC are located. Following the attack, a security meeting is being held and an official statement is expected in the coming hours.
Malanga, who often wears a military uniform and calls himself a commander, is well known in Congolese diaspora circles in the United States for his anti-power speeches. He belongs to a movement called ‘New Zaire’ and the United Congolese Party (PCU), and even declared his intention to run for the Presidency of the Republic, according to the description of the local media ‘Actualité’. Born in 1983 in the then Republic of Zaire, Malanga grew up in the Ngaba commune in Kinshasa and lived in South Africa and Eswatini before settling in the United States.
