On July 21, 2019, Kinshasa police chief General Sylvano Kasongo announced that the city's governor had banned all political rallies for the week due to rising tensions between supporters of President Felix Tshisekedi and former leader Joseph Kabila.
The ban came after the youth wing of Tshisekedi's Democracy and Social Progress party (UDPS) announced a protest against the candidacy of a former justice minister for the senate presidency, prompting a counter-march by the pro-Kabila Red Berets movement in support of Alexis Thambwe.
"He instructed the police to take all appropriate measures. Anyone who attempts to march or disturb the public order this week will find the police in their way," General Kasongo said in a statement.
The tensions in Kinshasa are a result of the ongoing power struggle between Tshisekedi's CACH alliance and Kabila's Common Front for Congo (FCC) coalition, which won comfortable majorities in both houses of parliament and provincial assemblies.
