December 2016 Congolese protests

December 2016 Congolese protests
Streets of Kinshasa during the protests
Date	14–23 December 2016
Location	Boma, Goma, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Matadi[1] Pretoria,[2] Brussels[3]
Caused by	President Joseph Kabila refuses to leave power following completion of his term in office.
Goals	Discontinuation of the president's term Resignation of Joseph Kabila
Methods	Protests Demonstrations
Resulted in	Main opposition and Kabila regime agree to a deal. Kabila will not alter the constitution and will leave office before the end of 2017.[4]
Parties
Opposition: Civilian protesters Opposition parties Government: Alliance of the Presidential Majority People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy
Lead figures
Non-centralized leadership Joseph Kabila (President of Congo) Nzanga Mobutu Antoine Gizenga Pierre Syakasighe André-Philippe Futa Olivier Kamitatu Etsu
Casualties
Death(s)	40[5]
Injuries	dozens
Detained	460[5]

On 20 December 2016 the Democratic Republic of the Congo's president, Joseph Kabila, announced that he would not leave office despite the end of his constitutional term. Protests subsequently broke out across the country, which had never had a peaceful transfer of power since it gained independence in 1960. The protests were met with the government's blocking of social media,^[6] and violence from security forces which left dozens dead. Foreign governments condemned the attacks against protesters.

On 23 December an agreement was proposed between the main opposition group and the Kabila led-government under which the latter agreed not to alter the constitution and to leave office before the end of 2017.^[4] Under the agreement opposition leader Étienne Tshisekedi will oversee that the deal is implemented and the country's Prime Minister will be appointed by the opposition.^[4]