Number plates cause rising tension

Tension rose in Bukavu, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on Tuesday as hundreds of children demonstrated against the introduction by rebel authorities of compulsory licence plates for all vehicles in the town.

On Tuesday, police were sent to guard the Contributory Services Office (the tax office) after a group of children aged between seven and 12 years began tearing off the number plates of vehicles around the building, while shouting and threatening staff inside. They then moved towards the town centre, stopping and any vehicles displaying the plates to remove them.

Meanwhile hundreds of other youngsters had organised a peaceful march through the town, between the areas of Essence and Cahi, shouting: "No to the new plates! Death to RCD [Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie]! No to pillaging! No to criminals!"

On Wednesday, no new plates were to be seen in the town, a humanitarian worker said, adding that the police had done nothing to stop the children.

There has been significant resistance to the introduction of the number plates (several weeks ago) from civil society, business people, the association of transport operators, local and international NGOs, and churches in Bukavu. Residents say they plates are too expensive - costing between US $70 and $120 each - and that they signify a partition of the DRC.

Meanwhile, RCD-Goma spokesman Jean-Pierre Lola Kisanga told IRIN that the two employees of Radio Maendeleo (Radio Progress) arrested during the closure of the station on Monday had been released early on Wednesday.

However, a humanitarian worker in the town who spoke to family members of station director Kizito Mushizi later on Wednesday said neither Mushizi nor his colleague, Omba Kamengele, had yet been released.

The station broadcast a programme on Sunday, in which RCD-Goma declined to participate, that enabled listeners to air their views on the number-plate system. Kisanga told IRIN the station had been closed because its role was to provide information on development issues, not politics.