Congo’s President Joseph Kabila is not seeking a third term in power but cannot step down or he would be guilty of treason, his chief aide has told Newsweek. 
 
 Kabila’s second term expired at midnight on Monday, but the 45-year-old president—who has been in power since 2001—has not vacated his post after the country failed to hold elections originally scheduled for November. 
 
 Opposition parties and civil society activists have been protesting for months about the delays, demanding that Kabila leaves office by December 19. Hundreds of young people gathered in the capital Kinshasa on Tuesday and were dispersed by police firing tear gas, Reuters reported. 
 
 But while tensions are high in the Congo, the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa, there have not yet been violent protests of the scale seen in September. Security forces clashed with protesters in Kinshasa on September 19-20, and 50 people killed; at least one police officer was reportedly burned alive during the protests. 
 
 The president’s chief diplomat, Barnabé Kikaya Bin Karubi, told Newsweek from Kinshasa on Monday evening that Kabila is duty-bound to stay in post until fresh elections are organized. Article 70 of the constitution states that the president must stay in office “until the president-elect effectively assumes his functions,” though analysts point out that article 75 allows for the president of the Senate to take over presidential duties in the case of a death or resignation of the incumbent. 
 
 “If he steps down today, he will be tried for treason, because the constitution requires him to stay in office until there is an elected president,” Kikaya told Newsweek from Kinshasa on Monday evening. 
 
 Congo’s electoral commission has indicated that the country, which has a population of 77 million, will not be ready for elections until April 2018 at the earliest. 
 
 Kikaya accused opposition parties of stoking civil unrest in the country, which has witnessed political conflict since independence from Belgium in 1960. “The history of the Congo is a history of assassinations, upheavals, mass protests, rebellions,” says Kikaya. 
 
 “This time, we want a peaceful transfer of power from the incumbent president to an elected president, and the majority of Congolese people have understood that. It’s only some political leaders who are actually afraid of the elections, who want to take power through the streets. That’s not democratic at all and that’s not constitutional.” 
 
 Congolese opposition parties—including the Rassemblement (“Rally”) coalition, which has been campaigning for Kabila to step down—refrained from calling demonstrations over the weekend, as they negotiated with the government in an emergency dialogue mediated by the Catholic Church. 
 
 JUNIOR D.KANNAH/AFP/Getty 
 
 On Tuesday, Étienne Tshisekedi, the leader of Rassemblement and head of Congo’s main opposition party, released a YouTube statement calling for Congolese people to “not recognize the illegal and illegitimate authority of Joseph Kabila, and to peacefully resist a coup d’etat that was carried out with the blessing of the constitutional court.” Congo’s highest court ruled in May that Kabila could remain in power in the interim between the end of his mandate and elections being held. 
 
 Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) Congo researcher Ida Sawyer was banned from the country in August after bringing to light human rights abuses perpetrated by Kabila’s government. She told Newsweek that HRW has confirmed that at least two people have been killed in clashes with security forces in Kinshasa on Tuesday, but that many other unconfirmed deaths have been reported. The U.N. human rights director for the country, Jose Maria Aranaz, told Reuters later on Tuesday that the organization had “solid” reports of 20 confirmed civilian deaths following clashes in Kinshasa. 
 
 Sawyer also says that HRW has recorded militia activity in multiple parts of the country, which the organization believes is linked to Kabila’s decision not to step down. A plethora of armed groups are active, particularly in eastern Congo, and Sawyer says that various militia leaders have warned in recent weeks that they would take the law into their own hands once Kabila’s mandate has expired. Militiamen attacked a prison in the eastern city of Butembo on Monday, killing a South African peacekeeper and police officer according to the United Nations. 
 
 Kabila’s opponents have accused him of adopting a strategy dubbed glissement—French for “slippage”—buying time in order to prepare an attempt to change the constitution to allow him to run for a third term. But Kikaya says that the “constitution doesn’t foresee a third mandate and the president is aware of that.” He also claimed that the majority of Congolese people have understood and accepted the need for the president to stay in power. 
 
 But an October survey conducted by the New York-based Congo Research Group—which interviewed more than 7,500 Congolese face-to-face across the country—found that almost 75 percent of respondents wanted Kabila to leave power by the end of 2016, while four in five rejected any prospect of changing the constitution to allow Kabila to seek a third term. “I would tend to rely on a statistically-representative survey rather than anecdotal evidence, which is what he [Kikaya] seems to be relying on,” says Jason Stearns, director of the Congo Research Group. ||||| Twenty people have been killed in confrontations between protesters and security forces in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UN officials believe, hours after the end of the second five-year term of the president, Joseph Kabila. 
 
 
 
 A government spokesman said the death toll was nine. 
 
 Opposition leaders called for demonstrations overnight after Kabila refused to step down at midnight, and accused the 45-year-old former guerrilla commander of carrying out a coup d’état. 
 
 On Tuesday police and soldiers fired live ammunition in Kinshasa, as opposition activists burned tyres, threw stones and attacked an office of the ruling party. Violence was also reported in the southern city of Lubumbashi, where at least two deaths were reported: one protestor and a policeman who was lynched by an angry crowd. 
 
 Ida Sawyer, a Human Rights Watch researcher in Kinshasha, said on Twitter that at least 26 people were killed by security forces in clashes in the capital, Lubumbashi, Matadi and Boma. 
 
 Ida Sawyer (@ida_sawyer) #CongoCrisis: At least 26 people killed by security forces during protests today in Kinshasa,Lubumbashi, Matadi+Boma. Other reports TBC-@hrw pic.twitter.com/lrCOUwFHlq 
 
 In a video message released overnight, the senior opposition leader Etienne Tshikedi called on Congolese people to peacefully resist an “illegal, illegitimate leader” who he said had committed treason by holding on to office. 
 
 Protests expected on Monday were quelled by a massive security presence, the restriction of internet access and a wave of arrests. Human rights campaigners said about 110 people had been detained across the DRC in the four days before Kabila’s mandate expired. Up to another 100 are thought to have been arrested in the last 24 hours. 
 
 Outside one police station in the Njili neighbourhood of Kinshasa, about 20 young men were under guard on a concrete platform, hands tied behind their back. 
 
 At a nearby hospital, staff reported a death and two injuries in the morning’s violence. The full death toll from the violence is very difficult to ascertain: medical staff are under instructions not to disclose information, and security forces routinely dispose of bodies secretly, local human rights officials and activists say. 
 
 José Maria Aranaz, a representative of the UN human rights office in Kinshasa, told Reuters: “On the issue of deaths, it looks bad. We are reviewing allegations of up to 20 civilians killed, but [the information] is pretty solid.” 
 
 Most of the arrests occurred overnight as security forces moved through neighbourhoods known to be opposition strongholds. “The soldiers came and were going from house to house picking people up,” one resident in the Matete district of Kinshasa told the Guardian. 
 
 In nearby streets, young men burned tyres before being chased away by police, and scattered shots rang out. Police and heavily armed soldiers confronted protesters across burning barricades, and the district headquarters of Kabila’s political party was set on fire by a crowd, prompting a barrage of teargas. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Residents chant slogans against President Joseph Kabila during demonstrations in the streets of Kinshasa. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters 
 
 Roads were empty across Kinshasa, which appeared to be shut down for a second consecutive day. Thousands of troops and dozens of armoured vehicles were deployed at strategic points. There were similar scenes elsewhere across the country. 
 
 Ministers and supporters of Kabila say logistical and financial problems mean fresh elections cannot be held until 2018. Until then, Kabila – who has completed two terms in power and is prevented by the constitution from running for a third – has a constitutional duty to remain in office, they claim. 
 
 Sami Badibanga, the new prime minister, called for calm and asked security forces to show “discipline and restraint”. In September more than 60 people died when security forces opened fire on an opposition march. 
 
 “We will work in a spirit of frank cooperation with the international community to face the social and economic challenges and arrive at transparent and credible elections,” Badibanga said. 
 
 A ban on gatherings of more than 10 people did not appear to apply to small convoys of pro-government supporters who took to the streets in the afternoon. 
 
 “Our president is a patriot. It is calm today. Most of the population is with Kabila,” said Ali Warial, 33, who organised one rally in the Njili neighbourhood. 
 
 Protesters said they would intensify their efforts. “We are going to protest until the last possible moment. We are proud of our country. We want power for the people, of the people,” said François, a 27-year-old teacher in Matete. 
 
 Talks between the government and opposition factions brokered by the Catholic church are suspended and due to restart later this week. 
 
 Tshisekedi, the opposition leader, stopped short of calling for mass demonstrations – which would almost certainly result in significant bloodshed – and said he would respect the “timetable decided by the bishops”. Though he has a loyal following on the streets, the opposition is fragmented and faces a determined administration that is supported, for the moment, by a powerful security establishment. 
 
 Congo on a knife-edge as opposition leader calls for Kabila to step down Read more 
 
 The crisis has been building for many months. Negotiations and protests have intensified as the end of Kabila’s mandate approached. Washington and European capitals have sought to put pressure on Kabila to hold elections and have imposed sanctions on members of his close circle. 
 
 There is little doubt there is widespread discontent at Kabila’s rule. High inflation, the devaluation of local currency and flagging investment is causing deep economic hardship throughout the country, where two-thirds of the estimated 70 million population live on less than £1.50 every day. 
 
 “It’s impossible to live. There are no jobs, there is no trade, and food is more and more expensive. We are surviving only by struggling every day,” said Mary, a 38-year-old housewife in Matete. 
 
 Observers fear the crisis could plunge DRC, which has never known a peaceful transfer of power since gaining independence from Belgium in 1960, into a prolonged period of instability. 
 
 Many fear a return to the civil wars that killed an estimated 5 million people between 1997 – when the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko was ousted after a 32-year rule – and 2003. 
 
 Supporters of Kabila insist he has no intention of clinging to office. Barnabé Kikaya, the president’s chief diplomatic adviser, denied there was any plan to change the constitution to allow a third term, as several other African leaders have done in recent years. 
 
 “If we had wanted to change the constitution to allow a third term, we would have already done it,” he said. 
 
 ||||| Two Watches at a Time 
 
 But over the years, former aides and investigators say, he has amassed a fortune and developed a taste for the finer things. A former colleague said he sometimes wore two expensive watches at the same time — a Rolex and a Patek Philippe — one for each wrist. 
 
 Mr. Kabila and his family own a network of homes and huge farms across Congo, sweeping up thousands of acres, analysts and former aides said. They also said Mr. Kabila was most at peace around animals. He is an avid breeder of cows, and he kept a menagerie of chimpanzees, a dik-dik (a small antelope), birds of prey and parrots at his house in urban Kinshasa. A recent visitor said at least one chimp still lived there, screeching hoots from a cage as guests arrive. 
 
 But these days, the stress of the job seems to be eating at him. Mr. Kabila has put on weight. The few times he was spotted in public he had huge bags under his eyes. 
 
 More whistle-blowers are coming forward, which may make him even less likely to quit if he believes that he can best protect himself and his assets by intimidating or neutralizing critics with his security forces. 
 
 One Congolese government official said that on numerous occasions he had been instructed to take wheeled suitcases, stuffed with $100 bills totaling more than $7 million, to a minister’s office for “state’s use.” The money came from a government-controlled company. The official, along with several others, said it would be too dangerous for anyone but Mr. Kabila or his family to steal that blatantly. 
 
 The Panama Papers — leaked confidential documents from a law firm in Panama — revealed that Mr. Kabila’s twin sister, Jaynet, using a different name, owned an indirect share in the nation’s largest mobile phone operator and through a company registered in Niue, in the South Pacific. 
 
 Current and former Congolese officials described very complicated and suspicious business dealings involving foreign partners, joint ventures and lucrative mining concessions. One such deal recently attracted the attention of Britain’s Serious Fraud Office, which is investigating Congo’s cut-rate sale of mining rights through an Israeli tycoon who is a friend of Mr. Kabila’s. Because of Mr. Kabila’s lack of transparency, the International Monetary Fund halted a loan program worth hundreds of millions of dollars that Congo desperately needed. ||||| Former colonial power Belgium has said it will "re-examine" its relations with Democratic Republic of Congo after President Joseph Kabila failed to step down when his mandate expired on Monday. 
 
 Mr Kabila, who has ruled since 2001, was required by constitutional term limits to leave office but his government says the presidential election to replace him cannot take place until 2018. 
 
 A statement issued by Belgium's government said: "As there is no inclusive agreement, relations between Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo will be re-examined, with the greatest circumspection for any new engagement with the current authorities." 
 
 Belgium controlled Congo from 1885 until 1960. In the period during which it was under the control of Belgian king Leopold II, from 1885 until 1908, around 10 million people are estimated to have died as a result of colonial rule - roughly halving the country's population. 
 
 The new statement issued by Belgium came as the leader of Congo's largest opposition party urged peaceful resistance to the "coup d'etat" he said Mr Kabila carried out by staying in power after his mandate expired at midnight on Monday. 
 
 Angry demonstrators began putting up barricades in the capital, Kinshasa, prompting police to fire tear gas to disperse the crowds. 
 
 The political impasse has fuelled fears of widespread unrest in the vast Central African nation that has trillions of dollars' worth of natural resources but remains one of the world's poorest and most unstable countries. 
 
 The presidential election once set for November has been delayed indefinitely, adding to fears that Mr Kabila will not step aside. 
 
 Mr Kabila, who took office in 2001 after his father's assassination, is constitutionally barred from seeking another term, but a court has ruled that he can remain in power until a new election. 
 
 A man holds a bird as a crowd gathers to protest in the neighbourhood of Yolo in Kinshasa (Getty) 
 
 The ruling party says there is "no possibility" of one in 2017, saying it needs time to prepare. The opposition wants a vote as soon as possible. 
 
 In a statement posted on YouTube on Tuesday, opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi called the president's actions "treason." 
 
 "I launch a solemn appeal to the Congolese people to not recognise the illegal and illegitimate authority of Joseph Kabila, and to peacefully resist a coup d'etat that was carried out with the blessing of the constitutional court," Mr Tshisekedi said. 
 
 Mr Tshisekedi, 84, is a longtime Kabila foe and once declared himself president following the 2011 elections. 
 
 Until now, he and other opposition figures had refrained from calling publicly for demonstrations, but political negotiations stalled over the weekend without reaching an agreement on a date for new elections or the release of political prisoners. 
 
 Africa Rising - in pictures 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 show all Africa Rising - in pictures 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1/12 Men using the natural Bogolan dyeing technique, which is an ancient craft tradition in the Niger River, particularly Mali. By Le Ndomo / Boubacar Doumbia. Photography by Adriaan Louw / Design Network Africa Gestalten 2016 
 
 2/12 An art piece by South African-born artists Athi-Patra Ruga. Photography by Adam McConnachie, Courtesy of Athi-Patra Ruga and WHATIFTHEWORLD Gestalten 2016 
 
 3/12 An image from C-Stunners by Nairobi-based artist Cyrus Kabiru. The phrames were made using scraps of disused technology. Photography by SMAC Gallery, South Africa Gestalten 2016 
 
 4/12 Photography by Flurina Rothenberger published in the magazine 'I love to dress like I am coming from somewhere and I have a place to go'. Gestalten 2016 
 
 5/12 From the photographic series Proud Women of Africa: Rainbow Girls, which captures the lesbians of South African townships of Gugulethu and Khayelitsha who have been disowned by their families. Photography by : Magic Group Media, Amsterdam, NL Gestalten 2016 
 
 6/12 Babylonstoren, where guests partake in curated dining experiences. Most of the food is planted and cultivated on the farm. Photography by Babylonstoren Gestalten 2016 
 
 7/12 Work by The Nest Collective which spans film, music, fashion and visual arts. Photography by Phyllis Galembo Gestalten 2016 
 
 8/12 Photography by Phyllis Galembo, who documented the clothing of people across Nigeria, Benin, and Burkina Faso. Gestalten 2016 
 
 9/12 Architecture by Kunlé Adeyemi / NLÉ Photography by Reze Bonna. In collaboration with Makoko Waterfront Community, Blok Kats van Veen architecten, Dykstra Naval Architects, Thieu Besselink, Roel Bosch architecten, Urhahn + Borra, Pieters Bouwtechniek, Ikeyi & Arifayan, Matrix Design & Works Nig Ltd., Solarmate Engineering Nig Ltd. Gestalten 2016 
 
 10/12 A collaboration between Amandine David and Marie Douel, inspired by Burkina Faso. Photography by Émile Barret / Hors Pistes Gestalten 2016 
 
 11/12 Photography by Héctor Mediavilla, whose photo series the SAPE Society of Ambianceurs and Elegant People captures the dandies of Congo. Gestalten 2016 
 
 12/12 Fantasma, a 'superband' formed in 2014 by producer and rapper Spoek Mathambo who recruited members from acros South Africa. Photography by Fantasma Gestalten 2016 
 
 Both are key demands of the opposition parties, along with the dropping of criminal charges against opposition leader Moise Katumbi, who fled the country as authorities announced plans to try him. 
 
 Mr Katumbi's supporters say the charges of hiring mercenaries are politically motivated, as he had been a leading presidential candidate. 
 
 A presidential adviser said on Monday that no election was feasible until 2018 and maintained that Mr Kabila's extended term was legitimate. 
 
 "The constitution clearly states that the president remains in his position until his successor is elected by the people of the Congo, not by a loud and insistent mob," said Barnabe Kikaya Bin Karubi, the president's diplomatic adviser. 
 
 People fear a repeat of the dozens of deaths in September, when the opposition took to the streets after the electoral commission failed to schedule the presidential election. 
 
 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said on Saturday that concerns about unrest are high, especially since "no one to date has been held accountable" for the protesters' deaths in September. 
 
 Additional reporting by agencies ||||| Moise Katumbi says president will become an ‘illegitimate’ ruler if he does not relinguish power at midnight 
 
 Congo on a knife-edge as opposition leader calls for Kabila to step down 
 
 Moise Katumbi, the most popular politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to recent polls, has intervened in the country’s ongoing crisis by calling on the president, Joseph Kabila, to stand down to avoid chaos and bloodshed. 
 
 A massive security presence, the suspension of the internet and a wave of arrests appeared to have largely stifled expected opposition protests on Monday against the continuing rule of Kabila. 
 
 With less than 12 hours before Kabila’s mandate expired at midnight – launching the vast resource-rich central African state into the political unknown – there were only scattered clashes and standoffs between security forces and opposition protesters in the capital, Kinshasa. 
 
 Has Africa had its fill of ‘strongmen’? Read more 
 
 Opposition leaders have repeatedly promised to launch a wave of civil protest on Monday to force Kabila, who took power in 2001 and has won two elections, to step down and most observers expected widespread violence. The constitution does not allow a third term. 
 
 
 
 Katumbi, the former governor of the southern province of Katanga, called on Kabila to step down before he became “an illegitimate” ruler. “[He] does not want the elections so I am advising him it is still possible to leave a legacy. It is very important … At midnight on [Monday] he will no longer be a legitimate president,” Katumbi told the Guardian in a telephone interview. 
 
 Katumbi has been in exile since being convicted on a minor charge of fraud, which supporters say was politically motivated. He said he has no immediate intention of returning to DRC. 
 
 
 
 “If I want to go back I can go today or tomorrow but I am a man of peace. I do not want my people to die. We want peace to be our priority. [Kabila] can shoot me, jail me, kill me and create more chaos. I don’t want that. I want a peaceful transfer of power,” said Katumbi, who has spent recent weeks traveling between western capitals to rally support. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Joseph Kabila took power in 2001 and has won two elections. Photograph: John Bompengo/AP 
 
 Critics accuse Kabila of seeking to hold on to power indefinitely, and promised a “trial of strength on the streets” in coming days. Talks between the government and opposition factions are suspended but are scheduled to restart later this week. 
 
 
 
 Valentin Mubake, chief political adviser to veteran opposition leader Étienne Tshisekedi, said the absence of violence was “the calm before the storm”. 
 
 'I only dream of bicycles': the DRC cycling club offering hope (and breakfast) Read more 
 
 Supporters and ministers say Kabila, 45, has no intention of clinging to office and have promise elections would be held as soon as practically possible. They dismiss the opposition as troublemakers who do not reflect the will of the country’s 70 million inhabitants. 
 
 Barnabé Kikaya, a key diplomatic aide of Kabila, told reporters in Kinshasa that the government of the DRC was “committed to ensuring peace, order and the respect of law” at this “challenging moment”. 
 
 “President Joseph Kabila will remain in office [on Tuesday] and until we are able to hold free and fair elections ... The demand that President Kabila abandons his responsibilities ... at midnight tonight is not serious. The constitution states that he will remain president until his successor is elected,” Kikaya said. 
 
 
 
 Observers fear the crisis could plunge DRC, which has never known a peaceful transfer of power since gaining independence from Belgium in 1960, into a prolonged period of damaging, and possibly very violent, instability. 
 
 
 
 Such concerns will be reinforced by reports of renewed fighting in eastern DRC on Monday linked to the political crisis. A newly emerged armed group broadly connected to the opposition launched assaults overnight on government troops’ positions in North Kivu, according to humanitarian officials. 
 
 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Police have been out in force in Kinshasa and elsewhere in DRC. Photograph: John Bompengo/AP 
 
 Over the weekend tens of thousands of armed police and paramilitaries were deployed on to streets across the country, while armoured vehicles protected at strategic points in key towns and cities. 
 
 In September more than 60 people died when security forces opened fire on an opposition march. 
 
 “Today there were lots of police everywhere so we did not go into the streets. But we will tomorrow,” said one opposition activist in Bunia, a city near the Ugandan border. 
 
 
 
 In Kinshasa almost all shops and businesses were shut and streets were largely deserted. 
 
 
 
 There were unconfirmed reports of scores of detentions. Organisations such as Lucha and Filimbi favoured by young, educated opposition activists appear to have been particularly targeted. Gloria Sengha, a prominent member of Lucha, has been missing for the past three days, friends and family told local media. The 23-year-old lawyer was last seen in Kinshasa, Her current whereabouts were unknown, they said. 
 
 Human Rights Watch, the campaign group, said it had received credible reports of at least 42 people arrested in Goma, the eastern city, on Monday morning. 
 
 The opposition has been hobbled by a lack of unity and by successive crackdowns, with demonstrations banned for several months. Meanwhile negotiations have intensified as the end of Kabila’s mandate has approached. Washington and European capitals have sought to pressure him into holding elections. 
 
 Last-minute talks brokered by the Catholic church between DRC government representatives and a coalition of opposition groups failed to reach agreement on Saturday, but are scheduled to start again on Wednesday after Congolese bishops return form a visit to Rome where they will see Pope Francis. 
 
 Government officials blame the opposition for the lack of progress in reaching a settlement and accuse western powers, which have tried to pressure Kabila to make concessions by imposing sanctions on key members of his entourage, of “a neo-colonial mindset”. 
 
 
 
 “The US and the Europeans shouldn’t try and force us. It’s a pretty clumsy approach to take. It is lucky that the president is a very calm man,” said Lambert Mende, minister of information and a close confidante of Kabila. 
 
 
 
 But there is little doubt there is widespread popular discontent over Kabila’s rule. 
 
 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest An opposition supporter displays a red card against Joseph Kabila’s rule. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters 
 
 On Monday, a crowd gathered by the roadside near the University of Kinshasa, waving red cards – mimicking football referees – and shouting anti-Kabila slogans. 
 
 
 
 “He must go. We are all suffering too much. There is too much pain from him for us. The government are thieves,” said Olivier, a 28-year-old unemployed law graduate. 
 
 
 
 At the university hundreds of students faced off with riot police who forced journalists away from the scene. Elsewhere in the capital there were reports of stones being thrown at security forces and public buses. 
 
 
 
 Countrywide protests are scheduled for Tuesday, however, raising the prospect of further unrest later in the week. 
 
 
 
 High inflation, the devaluation of local currency and flagging investment is causing deep economic hardship throughout DRC, where two-thirds of population live on less than £1.50 a day. 
 
 
 
 Many observers believe Katumbi, who also owns one of Africa’s most successful football clubs, could unify the fragmented opposition and present a more credible alternative to Kabila than Tshisekedi, a 84-year-old former prime minister. 
 
 
 
 In 2006, Kabila oversaw the first free vote in DRC in decades, ushering in a period of relative stability and economic growth as mining firms invested billions of dollars. 
 
 But many observers now fear a return to the brutal civil wars in which an estimated 5 million people were killed between 1997, when the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko was ousted after a 32-year rule, and 2003. 
 
 “It is the balance of power on the ground which counts … The balance of power will now be worked out on the streets and then we will talk again. But in the long run, whether its around a table or in the streets, Kabila will lose,” said Mubake, Tshisekedi’s adviser.
– Joseph Kabila has been president of the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2001. His second—and constitutionally mandated final—term ended Monday at midnight. Only the 45-year-old Kabila refused to step down. Here's what you need to know: With Kabila refusing to relinquish power, violence is breaking out. The Guardian reports 20 people were killed as protesters clashed with security officials. Oddly, Kabila's chief diplomat tells Newsweek that Kabila would be guilty of treason if he stepped down. The country failed to hold an election in November as planned, and the diplomat says the constitution requires Kabila to stay in power until a successor is elected. But the ruling party states that won't happen until April 2018 at the earliest. The New York Times reports it might not be desire for power that's keeping Kabila from ceding the presidency but rather a fear he'll lose his fortune in the process. Investigators say Kabila has stolen millions in public assets through "dubious mining rights sales" and "possible money-laundering schemes." In the months leading up to the end of Kabila's second term, the Washington Post did an extremely rare public opinion poll in the Democratic Republic of Congo, finding that 81% of people don't want the constitution changed to give Kabila a third term and 74% want him to step down by the end of the year. The Guardian notes that the current situation isn't rare for the country. The Democratic Republic of Congo hasn't had a peaceful transfer of power since gaining independence 56 years ago and is facing what could be an especially violent period. Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Congo's former colonial ruler—Belgium—says it will "re-examine" its relationship with the country in the wake of what some are describing as a coup by Kabila, according to the Independent.