By Spy Uganda Correspondent
The body of a Democratic Republic of Congo opposition deputy and former government minister was found riddled with bullets in the capital Kinshasa on Thursday 13 July 2023, officials said.
Cherubin Okende was a member of the party of Moise Katumbi, a leading opposition politician who is set to contest the presidential election in the central African nation in December.
An official in Katumbiโs team said that Okende, 61, had disappeared on Wednesday after travelling to an appointment at the constitutional court in Kinshasa.
Okendeโs bullet-riddled body was subsequently found in his car on Thursday morning on one of the cityโs main thoroughfares, the official added. โItโs a political assassination,โ Katumbi told French radio broadcaster RFI. โThey want to reduce us to silence.โ
The Democratic Republic of Congoโs presidency stated that Okende had died in โtragic circumstancesโ, and it urged an investigation to โshed full light on the matter and punish those responsible for this despicable actโ.
Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya likewise tweeted that โthe government was shocked to learn of the assassinationโ and that it had ordered a probe. The European Union said it โstrongly condemns the assassinationโ of Okende.
he EU โcalls on the authorities to shed light on the circumstances of this assassination and to bring those responsible to justiceโ, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
โEverything must be done so that the elections can develop in an atmosphere that allows them to be competitive, peaceful, inclusive and transparent.โ
Okende was transport minister before he resigned from office in December at the same time as two other ministers in Katumbiโs camp. At the time, Katumbi had announced his presidential bid and withdrawn his Ensemble pour la Republique party from the ruling coalition.
President Felix Tshisekedi, who came to office in January 2019, is also due to stand for re-election. Several of the leading opposition figures, including Katumbi, have insisted the nationโs electoral authority is planning a fraudulent poll.
Congolese soldiers arrested one of Katumbiโs advisers, Salomon Kalonda, in late May, accusing him of illegal possession of a firearm and of plotting to overthrow the government.
