Anti-govt rapper abducted as DR Congo vote tensions rise

A rapper critical of President Joseph Kabila was abducted in the eastern DR Congo overnight, his father said Sunday amid rising tensions two weeks ahead of landmark elections.

Akim Bufole Corneille, 26, was taken by unidentified kidnappers as he left a party in Bukavu, the capital of troubled South Kivu province, his father Amuli Bufole told AFP.

"Before he was taken, he wrote a rushed message (on his phone) to alert us that he felt in danger," Bufole said.

The kidnapping of the rapper, whose stage name is Cor Akim, happened "not far from our home," his father added.

"We arrived too late at the scene, where we found one of his shoes and his wallet."
In an interview with AFP on Sunday, he said he feared the elections would "simply create more troubles since there is neither transparency, nor credibility in their organisation.... So surely the results will tend to provoke disputes which are not good for democracy."