The army of the Democratic Republic of Congo announced that it had foiled a “coup attempt” in Kinshasa, the capital, involving Congolese, several Americans, and a Briton, Sylvain Ekenge, spokesperson for the Congolese army, told Iran Press.
This announcement came as automatic weapons fire was heard at the end of the near the “Palace of the Nation,” which houses the offices of President Félix Tshisekedi, after armed men attacked the home of a minister located nearby in the commune of Gombe, on the banks of the Congo River. The Congolese people are shocked by the involvement of the United States in destabilizing institutions in the DRC. They demand serious investigations.
“It is important that we begin serious investigations to get to the bottom of this. But already, the first information indicates a black hand behind the failed coup d’état in Kinshasa. For us, it is another illustration of American support behind this kind of situation to destabilize the institutions in the DRC, as is the case for other African states, which we cannot digest.
We condemn the United States’ way of destabilizing the current regime and African states. We realize that these attackers carried out this coup d’état because they received support and strategic preparation from external powers. Military personnel trained in the United States and equipped with heavy weapons attempted this coup.
We, as Congolese and African people, remain determined to thwart this outlaw plan. Our government can turn away from these people and seek serious and sincere partners who can help us manage affairs well. We can appeal to BRICS and other great powers, to militarily strong states that can act as a counterweight. That’s all we want, but we must know that these Westerners will never be able to help us as long as we remain passive and do not take responsibility as we should,” Moïse Hangi, a Congolese, told Iran Press.
Around forty attackers were arrested while four others, including their leader, “a certain Christian Malanga, a Congolese naturalized American,” were “definitively neutralized” (killed) by the security forces, Iran Press reported. The Congolese army condemned this “attempt to destabilize the country’s institutions” in a press release.
The attackers are “of several nationalities,” explained the army spokesperson. Besides Christian Malanga, “there is his son,” “two other American subjects, white,” as well as “a naturalized British subject,” added the general.
“This act proves how often the DRC remains the target of the world. With the attackers holding American passports, we can conclude that there is a black hand of the Americans, a notorious complicity of the United States of America because the attackers came from the USA where they were trained and carried out their propaganda to show that they were going to come to the DRC and destabilize the institutions. The United States stands out even more after the failures it suffered in the east of the DRC by supporting the M23 rebels via Rwanda.
Jenny Ntwali, a Congolese political scientist said: “They are failing in the east and want to go to Kinshasa to take control of the country. Even in Africa, you see that the Americans seek to destabilize institutions where they take heads of state hostage to install their dictatorship and have control over Africa. The DRC should not rely on the United States of America because they always deceive us. That is why I encourage our leaders to cut relations by moving towards other partners.”
Reactions are coming from all over the world and in the DRC. Christophe Muisa said that Congolese officials should take responsibility while condemning the coup attempt.
“We strongly condemn this attack, which took place intending to overthrow the institutions legitimately established by a group of people. During this period when our country was being attacked, we saw in the ranks a group of Americans, and Canadians, while it is these same countries that complicity in this aggression of which we have been victims for 30 years.
Unfortunately, we learn that their leader was killed when he should have provided a lot of elements to shed light on who was behind this attack. All Africans are called today to unite because Westerners and Americans will not let go of all the wealth. If Africans do not become aware, these scenarios will continue to repeat themselves, and that cannot be avoided because they have their accomplices inside. It is up to African leaders to organize themselves and take charge with a certain determination of management and financial autonomy,” activist Christophe Muisa told Iran Press.
