...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
ex-President Laurent Kabila in 2001, has been promoted to the rank of brigadier general in an army reshuffle.
Eddy Kapend, who had been Kabila’s top military aid, was part of a group of soldiers released in 2021 following pardons issued by President Félix Tshisekedi, who took over from Joseph Kabila, the son of the late president, in 2019.
Kapend has always denied involvement in the murder plot, and rights groups at the time criticised the trial.
The army reshuffle comes just over a week after the former inspector general of the police and army, John Numbi, launched a verbal attack on the president.
Numbi, who lives in exile in Zim-bob-we, described Tshisekedi as "incompetent", saying "the army and police were no longer bound by their duty to obey".
However,
a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all...
he stopped short of calling for an insurrection.
Kapend has been assigned as commander of the 22nd military region in his home territory of Katanga, a strategic province just two months ahead of the elections.
Former president Joseph Kabila, presidential opponent Moïse Katumbi, and Numbi, also hail from the south-eastern region.
Tshisekedi has denied there was a political motivation for the move, saying Kapend’s appointment was based on his merits as a military officer and his loyalty to the supreme commander.