According to the BBC, shops in Kinshasa were closed and streets were mostly empty.

Opposition parties in the central African country demanded that President Joseph Kabila end his rule, as mandated in the constitution.

They feared Kabila wanted to delay elections that are due in November.

Kabila came into power after the assassination of his father in 2001 and, although the constitution stated that a president could only serve for two terms, there have been consistent delays as Kabila clings to power.

Democratic transition

Kabila’s government, however, dismissed Tuesday’s strike as the work of “radicals having some old fashioned fun”.

The strike, according to reports, was most successful in Kinshasa, which has a population of at least 11 million.

Business activities were also slow in Goma, the main trading centre in the east.

The country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) announced recently that it could not hold elections this year due to a number of challenges.

The electoral body said that it could only hold the elections sometime in July 2017.

News24