Congo Catholics call new anti-Kabila demonstration

March organizers are seeking a commitment that President Kabila will not seek another term in office

A Kinshasa street march Dec. 31, 2017, organized by a Catholic group to protest a renewed presidential term for Joseph Kabila was harshly suppressed, causing six deaths.(photo by John Wessels/AFP)

Vowing to "give no break to the dictatorship," a Catholic lay organization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has called for a new demonstration against President Joseph Kabila.

"Next Sunday Jan. 21, respecting people and property as always, we will march peacefully, hand in hand, holding our peace branches, our bibles, our rosaries, our crucifixes in an effort to save the Congo, our collective heritage," a statement issued by the lay organizing committee said.

The dispersal of an earlier prohibited march left six people dead according to the Catholic Church and the United Nations although the government has denied that any were killed.

"Far from intimidating us, the government has strengthened our determination and our desire to make use of our constitutional right to demonstrate publicly," the statement continued. "We intend to continue, right to the end."

Commemorating the victims, the highly influential Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, presided at a Mass on Jan. 12 that had the air of a public meeting in favor of a change of government. Many leading Congolese opposition figures and western diplomats also took part.

After Mass, police dispersed the crowd gathered on the pavement outside the cathedral, injuring two people lightly, according to a police statement.

Catholics called on the president to declare publicly that, in line with the Constitution, he will not accept a new term.

Kabila's second and final term ended on Dec. 20, 2016. However, the Constitution authorizes him to remain in power until the election of his successor. This election is slated for Dec. 23, 2018.

Since gaining independence in 1960, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a former Belgian colony, has never experienced a peaceful transition of power.

From 1965 to 1997, it endured 33 years of dictatorship under Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko.