President Felix Tshisekedi has ordered the arrest of Belgian businessman Thierry Lakhanisk and former Democratic Republic of Congo Armed forces Chief John Numbi for allegedly planning a coup to oust him from office.
Lakhanisk is a specialist in large transport business and hires out helicopters. He is suspected to be working with John Numbi who is on the run.
Belgian Radio and Television (RTBF) reveal that investigators in the DRC are putting fact together dating to as far back as summer of 2021.
The contacts and links Lakhanisk appears to have with ex-General Numbi is the main concern that the Tshisekedi regime understands could trigger a potential coup.
Numbi is a close and trusted ally of former President Joseph Kabila.
One of the activities Lakhanisky and Numbi have allegedly engaged is to study the geographic coordinates and obtaining of military maps of the Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe at a scale of 1:25,000”.
Lakhanisky’s lawyer Emmanuel De Wagter says his client has not been arming the rebel
or engaging in any referendum for the the independence of Katanga which is one of the plans on the table to fight Tshisekedi’s regime.
The Belgian judicial file also mentions information about a planned coup in the mining region of Katanga more specifically. Katanga, a region located in the south of the DRC, is rich in minerals such as copper and cobalt.
