On 23 December an agreement was proposed between the main opposition group and the Kabila led-government under which the latter agreed not to alter the constitution and to leave office before the end of 2017.

[10] In December, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added Interior Minister Évariste Boshab and intelligence agency leader Kalev Mutondo to its sanctions list,[11] while the European Union froze assets and banned travel of Ilunga Kampate, leader of the DRC's Republican Guard, as well as six more unnamed officials.

[1] Protesters held red penalty cards[14] and blew whistles signifying the end of Kabila's term in office and their desire for him to leave power.

[17] Other protests in cities across the country left a total of at least 26 dead for the day, according to the Human Rights Watch, which said that military and police personnel had been deployed in Lubumbashi and Kinshasa.

[17][18] By late January Congo's Catholic Bishops Conference (CENCO) announced that the December 31st deal was at risk of collapsing as Kabila's regime and the opposition disagreed over appointments to the electoral monitoring council and ministerial posts.