with our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa

The agenda for this session should have been adopted during the same plenary session, but disagreement arose among lawmakers. Some believe that the conference of presidents must first be convened, which was rejected by the interim bureau established after the fall of Jeanine Mabunda.

Since the interim bureau was established, controversies have mounted over its competencies. A new bureau should be installed during this session but nothing has been finalized yet, because even for lawmakers who joined the new dynamic of Félix Tshisekedi's sacred union, negotiations to present candidacies for the camp have not yet been initiated.

Pro-Kabila lawmakers argue that the interim bureau led by Mboso N'kodia should limit itself to handling current affairs, as signified by a ruling from the Constitutional Court. In the background, they fear that a motion of censure against the government of Sylvestre Ilunkamba, close to Kabila, could arise and be examined during this session.

But well before that, the convening of the session a controversy over the health aspect erupted. Officially, two lawmakers were killed by Covid-19 in ten days. According to a medical source at the National Assembly, around thirty others would have been contaminated but would be asymptomatic.