DR Congo begins census of places named after Kabila
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Actualité.cd
DR Congo’s deputy prime minister for the interior, Jacquemain Shabani, has asked provincial governors to inventory within 30 days streets and public places named after Joseph Kabila, with a view to renaming them. The measure, approved by the president, is based on a list of 16 sites and concerns the former head of state, now leading the politico-military FRN movement, according to Actualite.cd.
DR Congo’s deputy prime minister in charge of the interior and security, Jacquemain Shabani, has asked provincial governors to draw up a comprehensive inventory of avenues and places named after Joseph Kabila, former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The operation is to lead to proposals for new names, reports Actualité.cd.
The document sent to provincial executives contains a list of 16 sites and gives them 30 days to submit a certified list of the places concerned together with replacement proposals. The changing of signs will then depend on the adoption of naming decisions by the competent authorities.
The measure, approved in principle by President Félix Tshisekedi, is justified by the desire to enshrine in collective memory the principle that no political ambition can legitimise betrayal or complicity with an enemy power, according to Actualité.cd. It also raises the question of places named after Laurent-Désiré Kabila, Joseph Kabila’s father and former Congolese president recognised as a national hero, notably Kabila camp in Lemba and Kabila district in Kisenso.
The initiative comes after DR Congo’s intention to rename places named Kabila, announced on 12 November.
