2022 Democratic Republic of the Congo coup d'état allegations
| 2022 Democratic Republic of the Congo coup d'état attempt | |||||||
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 Map of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | |||||||
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 Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | Unknown | ||||||
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| Félix Tshisekedi | Unknown | ||||||
On February 8, 2022, Félix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, reported a coup d'état. The report about coup emerged when Tshisekedi was attending the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, which he is the chairperson of the body. The reports caused Tshisekedi to leave the summit earlier to deal with the internal conflict in his country.[1][2]
Background
Since 2020, African region has experienced waves of coup started from the 2020 coup in Mali and recently in Burkina Faso and a failed coup in Guinea-Bissau. The coup wave has become one of the main topic of discussion in 35th African Union Summit.[3]
Coup attempt
In February 2022, President Félix Tshisekedi was heading to Addis Ababa to attend the 35th African Union Summit as a chairperson, which his term is nearing its end. During the summit, Tshisekedi received a report that there are some indication of the country is facing a national security threat. This led Tshisekedi to leave the summit abruptly to deal with the national security issues in his country. After the reports of the threat, Presidential spokesman Tharcisse Kasongo Mwema addressed the national television that the government has found the "evidence" of national security threat. Mwema also stated that investigation is ongoing and any attempt to destabilize the country will not be tolerated.[4]
On February 9, Tshisekedi 's security aide, François Beya was reportedly arrested according to the report from Congolese Association for Access to Justice (ACAJ) president Georges Kapiamba, which he claimed he met Beya during his detention. Kapiamba stated that Beya has denied all the allegations against him which Beya hasn't publicly speak about it. Union for Democracy and Social Progress legislator Auguy Kalonji said that the country has "escaped" the coup without clarifying the plotter.[5]
See also
- 2011 Democratic Republic of the Congo coup d'état attempt
- 2020 Malian coup d'état
- 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état
- 2022 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état attempt
References
- ^ News, A. B. C. "Congo warns of security threat amid coup plot reports". ABC News.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "RDC failed coup plot: president's security adviser in detention". Africanews.
- ^ "African Union condemns 'wave' of military coups". DW News. 9 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ Kamale, Jean-Yves (9 February 2022). "Congo warns of security threat amid coup plot reports". Associated Press. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ Ilunga, Patrick (9 February 2022). "Arrest of Tshisekedi's adviser signals trouble in his inner circle". The East African. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
