Kinshasa had demanded the sanctions be suspended because of the upcoming election. Shadary had referred to it as “humiliating sanctions” and the government referring to it as “unacceptable interference in the electoral process” of the country.

“There will be [retaliatory] measures, definitely, because we believe those sanctions are politically motivated,” Kabila told Reuters.

The EU has again encouraged the country’s authorities to organize free and fair elections, and says it is ready to review these sanctions after the elections.

Ida Sawyer, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in June that “the sanctions signal that the most serious rights abusers and those delaying elections will have to pay a price, no matter their rank or position”.

Kabila had been due to step down at the end of his constitutionally mandated two-term limit on December 19, 2016, but held on to power and repeatedly delayed electing his successor. Now scheduled for December 23, 2018, the current conflict and rights abuse allegations are raising doubts about the credibility of the polls.