DRC: Tshisekedi funeral, Paul Kagame in Kinshasa to sympathize with Congolese

The first of the heads of state to tread the soil of Kinshasa this Friday, May 31, 2019 is Paul Kagame of Rwanda. He came to sympathize with his Congolese counterpart, Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo and the Congolese people at this painful moment of the funeral of the Patriarch Étienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba, the icon of the Congolese democracy, former prime minister of the DRC.

Indeed, the plane carrying President Kagame arrived in Kinshasa at 9:50 am at Ndjili International Airport. He was greeted by the chief of staff of the head of state, Vital Kamerhe.

The next expected head of state is Angolan President Joao Lorenço. The landing of his plane is scheduled at 10:30 that same Friday.

According to the presidential press, a tripartite meeting TSHISEKEDI-KAGAME-LORENCO is scheduled at 11:30 in the presidential residence of N’sele.

It will be preceded by a bilateral TSHISEKEDI-KAGAME to discuss security and economic issues in particular.

The President of the Republic of Congo will arrive in Kinshasa this afternoon. A first rotation of his teams arrived this morning. President Sassou Nguesso will be staying for 48 hours on Congolese soil.

According to the calendar established by the organizing committee of the funeral of the father of the democracy, the day of Friday, May 31, 2019 is devoted to the tributes and meditation at the Stadium of the Martyrs of Kinshasa. Members of the biological family, militants of the Udps and all kinois eager to pay a final tribute to the sphinx of Limete, are expected.

In the capital, it is observed since this morning a great mobilization. Women, young and old dressed in a white T-shirt with a Lider Maximo effigy, on foot or by bus go either to the morgue or to the Martyrs stadium.

Since the first hours of the day, thousands of kinois fill this temple of football.

The mortal remains will leave the morgue of the fiftieth anniversary hospital at 9 am and the funeral cortege will enter at 10 am. The lifting of the body will be done in the greatest family intimacy and the funeral procession accompanied by a crowd, on foot, will link the Stadium of the Martyrs.

The remains of the former Prime Minister and hero of democracy, Étienne TSHISEKEDI, will be displayed on an elevated platform in front of the Martyrs Stadium tribune.

Nadine FULA