Jacques Kyabula, the Governor of Haut Katanga Province in DR Congo, has not been seen in public since at least July 10, media reports say. Kyabula is said to have gone missing after he was summoned to Kinshasa. ALSO READ: DR Congo bars Kabila allies from leaving the country The reason for the summons is not known, but reports say Kyabula might have made comments that were seen as favouring former president Joseph Kabila and former election chief-turned rebel leader Corneille Nangaa. In April, Nangaa, the leader of Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) movement which controls swathes of territory in eastern DR Congo, emphasized the need for a violence-free DR Congo to foster peace and economic development. To reduce the level of violence in the country, he said, a functional state must be established in DR Congo, with a corruption-free national army, police, administration, and a working justice system. ALSO READ: Kabila urges South Africa not to support Tshisekedi’s ‘tyrannical regime’ In May, the DR Congo Senate voted in favour of a resolution stripping Kabila of immunity after the country’s military high court brought treason and war crimes charges against him. Kabila has blasted President Felix Tshisekedi’s government’s populism, lies, and arrogance, among others. ALSO READ: AFC/M23 leader Corneille Nangaa states four reasons why his movement is fighting Tshisekedi govt Kyabula, who had been summoned by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Jacquemain Shabani, did not respond to the summons and Congolese authorities had issued a search warrant, Jeune Afrique reported on Thursday, July 17. However, the governor’s relatives reportedly dismissed claims of his “disappearance” saying he was in Lubumbashi, according to the French publication. An interim head of province was named by the Deputy Minister of Customary Affairs, Jean Baptiste Ndeze, who cited the “unavailability” of Kyabula in a memo reported by Radio Okapi on Wednesday.
