Embattled DR Congo opposition leader vows to return home

Paris (AFP) - Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Moise Katumbi, who quit the country for medical treatment after being jailed, said Tuesday he planned to return home to lead a "non-violent protest" against veteran ruler Joseph Kabila.

Katumbi was seen as the leading challenger to Kabila in elections due to be held this year, but was sentenced to three years in jail late last month over a real estate dispute, which makes him ineligible to stand.

"I have not fled the country," he told AFP. "I am counting on returning to Kinshasa as soon as possible to resume a non-violent protest."

On June 22, Katumbi was sentenced to prison after a court found him guilty of fraud over a Greek national's allegations that he forged and presented false documents in the acquisition of a property the Greek national said he would eventually inherit.

He was ordered to pay $1 million in damages to the plaintiff, as well as a fine of 900,000 Congolese francs ($940).

Katumbi was an ally of Kabila for a decade but quit the ruling party in September over the president's plans to split several provinces, including Katanga, which is the size of Spain, into four separate entities.

The 51-year-old tycoon owns the prestigious Tout-Puissant Mazembe football club, three-time winner of the African Champions League.

He left the country on May 20, a day after the government announced he would be tried for endangering state security and detained him in prison.

He then flew to South Africa, ostensibly for medical treatment, and subsequently settled in London.

Katumbi announced in May that he planned to stand in the election due later this year, but was swiftly hit with an investigation into claims he hired foreign mercenaries.

The opposition leader said Tuesday he would not withdraw from the presidential race despite the "trumped up cases."

"I am here, I am still a candidate," he said, vowing to "improve the state of law, education and infrastructure" in the sprawling mineral-rich country which has been wracked by civil war and decades of corrupt and despotic rule.

Accusing Kabila of "treason" and of trying to illegally prolong his rule by tampering with the constitution, Katumbi said: "We won't accept a day more for Kabila, nor any constitutional amendments."

Opposition parties in the country said last month they had forged an alliance to demand that Kabila quit when his term expires in December.

Kabila has been in power since the assassination of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila in 2001.