DRC’s ex-president Joseph Kabila, who yielded power to Felix Tshisekedi after December elections, moved Wednesday to assert his political clout, making the leaders of his FCC coalition sign a loyalty pledge.
Kabila’s Common Front For Congo remains the strongest force in parliament, garnering an overwhelming majority of seats in the December 30 vote which yielded a presidential win for opposition leader Tshisekedi.
Nearly a month after the reins officially changed hands, newly-retired Kabila gathered the leaders of the coalition’s 18 member parties at his farm in Kingakati, near Kinshasa, the FCC said in a statement.
It added that he got them to sign an “act of commitment” with seven main points. Topping the list: “We reaffirm our faithfulness and our loyalty to His Excellency Joseph Kabila Kabange, honorary president of the Republic.”
Tshisekedi’s own Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) only garnered 32 seats in the National Assembly.
This article first appeared in Daily Nation.