Congo warns civil servants to work on Tuesday, not join protest
By Aaron Ross KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congolese authorities vowed on Monday to punish state employees who skip work or show up late on Tuesday, when opposition parties plan a general strike to pressure President Joseph Kabila to step down late this year. Employment Minister Willy Makiashi said in a statement that attendance would be taken in all state offices and "any lateness or absence" would be met with "exemplary punishment in conformity with the rigor of the law". Kabila is supposed to step down after a presidential election slated for November, on completion of his second and final elected term, but opposition leaders accuse him of planning to hang on to power by delaying that vote. Dozens were killed in violent protests in Jan. 2015 against these alleged plans by Kabila, who succeeded his assassinated father in 2001. Government spokesman Lambert Mende dismissed the strike as "senseless" and instigated by a "small group of people", yet authorities were still taking precautions. Kabila has refused to comment on his future and has appealed for a dialogue to help organise this year's voting after the election calendar was thrown into disarray when elections for local and provincial posts were missed last year. The opposition calls this a delaying tactic and says Kabila must be pressured to hold the presidential vote this year. Calls by the opposition and other activists for a general strike marked a retreat from initial plans for pro-democracy marches on Tuesday after the powerful Roman Catholic Church withdrew its support last month. The Church said the event had been co-opted by political interests. Foreign embassies urged their citizens to exercise caution. The United States, French and Belgian schools in Kinshasa will all stay closed on Tuesday, diplomats said. Leonard She Okitundu, a senior member of Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), told Reuters he expected Tuesday to be a normal day but criticised the embassies' warnings. "It is calls like that that are going to encourage other institutions to recommend to their employees or students not to show up," he said. (Editing by Makini Brice and Tom Heneghan)
