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The president of the DR-Congo wants to create a "sacred union" of all active forces to help resolve a crisis within the coalition government
By Junior Kitambala | Congo
President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has consulted the country's Catholic bishops as he seeks a way to resolve the crisis between his Cap for Change (CACH) party and its coalition partner Common Front for Congo (FCC).
Tshisekedi met on November 9 with a delegation headed by Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Kinshasa and Archbishop Marcel Utembi of Kisangani, president of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO).
The meeting was part of a series of consultations the Congolese president is holding in order to create a "sacred union" of all active forces to find a way out of the stalemate that is currently crippling the coalition government he heads.
Five other bishops attended the meeting, including the CENCO vice-president, Bishop José Moko, and the president of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa (ACEAC), Archbishop Marcel Madila.
At the end of this gathering, the Catholic leaders said they gave President Tshisekedi a memorandum expressing satisfaction that the consultations were in line with concerns CENCO had expressed several times in their pastoral messages.
These include "The coalition - for what purpose? One recognizes the tree by its fruits" (February 28, 2020); "Who sows the wind reaps the storm" (June 27, 2020); and "Congolese People: let us not allow our sovereignty to be stolen" (October 15, 2020).
The priority of the people's well-being before all other political considerations
"No political compromise can be above the requirement for political power to do everything possible to ensure the well-being of the people," the bishops said.
They also called for respect for the Constitution, national security, territorial integrity, the stability of the state and its institutions, social peace, and the rule of law and democracy.
Two axes for the resolution of the current crisis
In response to the persistent differences within the ruling coalition, the bishops proposed to President Tshisekedi two axes to resolve the crisis.
"The political axis, which deals with the evaluation of the coalition, and the electoral axis, which calls for the necessary reforms to restore our people's confidence in the next electoral process, so as to have institutions that are legitimately strong and that can quickly boost the takeoff of a true rule of law," they recommended.
In addition, the episcopate said it was "aware" of the enormous challenges facing the country.
"CENCO will not hesitate to contribute to any initiative you take that will have as its goal the welfare of the Congolese people entrusted to its pastoral care," assured the memorandum.
President Tshisekedi also consulted with the bishops' former leader, Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo. He met on November 2 with the 81-year-old retired archbishop of Kinshasa, a week before the CENCO meeting.
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