Tshisekedi insurgency fizzles out

After being holed up for two days, people in my neighborhood--one of
the hotbeds of Tshisekedi insurgency--finally got out of their homes
as public transportation resumed. The neighborhood was also reeling
from the losses it suffered during the riots. A man was hit in the
head by a stray bullet while sitting in his compound. A young
demonstrator who resisted being taken away by cops by sprawling
spread-eagled on the pavement was bayoneted in the right foot and left
to bleed on the street.

Last night, in the downpour that started at around 2 am, inmates of
the military Ndolo Prison attempted a daring jailbreak. The mutiny
was met with heavy gunfire by military police. The government has yet
to release the number of casualties, if there were any.

DRC acting top cop Gen Chatles Bisengimana put the death toll at 4
citywide--victims, he said, of stray bullets. (As Gen Bisengimana is a
Banyamulenge, Kinois accuse Kabila of bringing in his fellow Rwandan
citizens to carry out massacres in the Congolese capital.)

Also yesterday, at a press briefing, Information Minister Lambert
Mende bristled at the latest shenanigan pulled by Tshiseseki. He
questiioned the sanity of the self-proclaimed DRC president who, on
the same day, told Radio Okapi he won with 54%, then went on to tell
Radio France Internationale (RFI) he won with 75%. If you add up
percentages given by Tshisekedi (plus the number of votes obtained by
other candidates), Mende said, you get well over 100%!

Tshisekedi's "irrationality," Mende warned, is verging on scoffing the
law. And this won't be tolerated. He issued a veiled threat at RFI,
warning media outlets relaying Tshisekedi's "posturing" they'd bear
the full brunt of the law. (RFI has only recently regained its FM
signal over Kin after a lengthy suspension for "discrediting" the
FARDC.)

I also ventured to Victoire Circle today. Whereas in my neighborhood
electricy poles and streetlamps were brought down or destroyed),
Victoire was unscathed though tepid in the drizzle. A heavy police
presence in the square acted as a strong deterrent during the riots.

I met Kabibi, a Kisangani native who owns a "nganda" (sidewalk bar)
on Bolobolo Avenue in Kasa-Vubu Commune, who told me she had to call
the police during the riots to protect her from her neighbors who were
accusing her of being one of those Swahili-Rwandans who had voted for
Kabila.

On Oshwe Avenue in Kalamu Commune, people told me Kinshasa Gov André
Kimbuta celebrated Kabila's victory yesterday at "Bana-Kin" nganda. As
a matter-of-fact, there are quarters where people did celebrate the
incumbent's victory. Camp-Luka in the Kintambo Commune is the
stronghold of the Bayaka ethnic group of Bandundu Province, carried by
Kabila by a staggering 73.4% (vs. Tshisekedi's paltry 19.55%). Well,
at Camp Luka, people celebrated into the wee hours of morning...

Though the city.appears to have cooled down, I overheard someone
advising a friend not to get out tomorrow: Tshisekedi will issue his
"watchword" on Monday. The sword of Damocles is thus dangerously
hanging by a hair above Kinois' heads...