Women of Kasai native living in Katanga have pleaded with authorities in Kinshasa not to entertain the Tshiani Bill as it had created an atmosphere of hatred among communities in the south-east province of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Speaking in a video message in their native language, the women say the Tshiani Bill was a recipe for anarchy as it had revived the long-held conflict between the people of the two regions.
In Katanga, the Tshiani Bill is considered a target on Katangese. The bill seeks to eliminate presidential candidates who do not have two Congolese parents from contesting the presidential elections on December 20, 2023.
Observers say the bill, if enacted into law, is targeting popular opposition leader Moise Katumbi whose father Nissim Soriano – a Greek Jew – fled the Holocaust and settled in the then Belgian Colony.
Katumbi enjoys massive support in Katanga and across the Swahili speaking regions of the DRC which has the highest number of voters across the country.
The Kasai women believe that should the Tshiani Law goes through, the ethnic war known by its code name “Tubatelemushe” will return to Katanga where many Kasai’s were killed by Katangese in a bid to drive them out of the region.
