Joseph Kabila's inauguration, on Wednesday, 6 December 2006, as the DRC's elected president attracts a lot of comments in today's Kinshasa press.

The "swearing-in ceremony [for Joseph Kabila is to take place] tomorrow at the presidential palace," Le Phare announces. The paper quotes an official statement from the Labour Ministry as announcing that "Wednesday is declared a paid holiday throughout the national territory."

In a story headlined "Large-scale construction work to begin", Le Potentiel says "Wednesday, 6 December 2006, will be a great day for the Democratic Republic of the Congo." Noting that Wednesday will see Joseph Kabila's inauguration as the DRC's elected president, the paper describes the "day [as] historic, [saying it] will mark the opening of a new era of hope for the Congolese people. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is certainly making its comeback on both the regional and international stages. Consequently, people will witness the start of large-scale construction works on all fronts," the paper writes.

"Wednesday's ceremony will seal an end to a long period of transition which began in April 1990," stresses L'Observateur, adding that several foreign heads of state and government, including, among others, Thabo Mbeki, Dos Santos, Sassou Nguesso, Robert Mugabe, Omar Bongo, Olesengun Obasanjo, Yoweri Museveni and Guy Verhofstadt, are due to witness Kabila take the oath of office.

According to L'Avenir, the United States president will be represented at this ceremony by Elaine L. Chao, US Secretary of Labour, who will be heading a seven-member delegation. With several other delegations expected, "Kinshasa will be so full of effervescence as to become the focus of African news," the paper writes.

Notable absentees from the swearing-in ceremony for Joseph Kabila will include his election rival Jean-Pierre Bemba, Le Palmarès notes. "The leader of the Union for the Nation coalition is flying today to Lisbon to take a rest," the paper says. But "before leaving, [Bemba] is going to honour his ledge to Kabila by instructing his soldiers who are based in the Maluku district of Kinshasa to be calm so the swearing-in ceremony can go off well," it says.