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A close ally of the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been removed from office following claims he wanted $7m (£5.5m) to organise a formal meeting to extend the country's state of emergency during the pandemic.

Deputy speaker Jean-Marc Kabund belongs to a minority party, and the petition to dismiss him angered his colleagues.

Believing they had no real chance of blocking the move, a fight broke out in parliament on Monday.

The minority MPs, composed of President Félix Tshisekedi'sparty the Union for Democracy and Social Progress and of his ally Vital Kamerhe's Union for the Congolese Nation, left the room.

And the vote carried on, with 289 of 315 voting to dismiss Mr Kabund.

The petition had been filed by Jean Jacques Mamba after Mr Kabund failed to justify why the huge sum of $7m was needed to organise the congress that was initially meant to happen by the end of April.

"It is not surprising for me... as a true Tshisekediste, I leave this post with my head held high," Mr Kabund later said in a tweet.