DR Congo: Ruling-party official threatens to arm young people, government condemns remarks

Fils Mukoko, deputy director general of Kinshasa’s sanitation authority and an official of the ruling UDPS, threatened to distribute weapons in public places and warned that Westerners in Kinshasa would have difficulty leaving. Government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya strongly condemned the remarks, said they represented neither the government nor any institution, and assured that diplomatic missions would be protected. The media regulator, CSAC, imposed an 88-day media ban on Mukoko and summoned him for a hearing. The threats came amid tensions with Belgium, following a presidential directive ordering Félix Tshisekedi’s cabinet to suspend all contact with the Belgian embassy.