OPPOSITION campaigners were arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday after a demonstration against the introduction of new voting machines for December’s presidential elections.

More than 30 members of the opposition organisation Lucha were detained by police. Tension is rising in the country after authorities banned two opposition candidates, including the multimillionaire former governor of mineral-rich Katanga province Moise Katumbi, from standing in the long-delayed poll.

Lucha has branded the new electronic voting devices “cheating machines” and raised concerns over current President Joseph Kabila’s influence over the elections.