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Vote counting continues in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after episodes of irregularity reported in the general elections held on Dec. 20.
KINSHASA, DRC | Xinhua | Vote counting continues in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after episodes of irregularity reported in the general elections held on Dec. 20.
As the country awaits the announcement of the first preliminary results amid visible tensions, Moise Katumbi, one of the main opposition candidates in the presidential race, said on Saturday that the elections should be “annulled” because of “massive fraud.”
This photo taken on Dec. 21, 2023, shows staff members counting votes at a counting center in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). (Photo by Alain Uyakani/Xinhua)
EPISODES OF IRREGULARITY
Some 44 million voters in the DRC were registered to elect a new president, members of the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies, as well as municipal councilors on Dec. 20, but the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), the electoral body, extended the polling till Dec. 21, acknowledging that some polling stations failed to open due to logistics problems that led to major balloting delays across the country.
According to local media, polling still continued on Sunday in some parts of country due to the late arrival of voting materials.
“Faced with this unacceptable situation, we call for the immediate annulment of these chaotic elections, marred by massive fraud as documented by all stakeholders,” read a statement by Katumbi, a major challenger to outgoing President Felix Tshisekedi, who is seeking reelection.
According to preliminary results announced late Friday by the CENI, Tshisekedi leads in diaspora vote tallies in South Africa, Belgium, Canada, the United States and France, with Katumbi standing in the second place in general.
Other presidential candidates also contested the voting process, saying the extension of polling goes against the electoral law and the Constitution.
The “irregularities sufficiently attest that on Dec. 20, 2023, it was a sham election, organized in violation of the fundamental right of the Congolese people,” a statement issued Saturday by five presidential candidates, including Martin Fayulu, Denis Mukwege, two main challengers in the race, said.
Full provisional election results are expected on Dec. 31, and the CENI would publish daily updates starting on Sunday.
VISIBLE TENSIONS
There have been visible tensions since the begining of the polling on Dec. 20, like the previous ones.
The five presidential candidates announced on Saturday to launch a massive demonstration in Kinshasa, the capital of DRC, on Dec. 27 to denounce what they described as major irregularities in the electoral process. The demonstration would start from Triumphal boulevard, right next to the CENI headquarters, in downtown Kinshasa.
On Saturday, 13 embassies in Kinshasa released a joint statement calling for restraint.
“We call on all stakeholders, in particular political actors, candidates and their supporters, to continue to exercise restraint, allow time for the process to continue and to assert their challenges peacefully, in accordance with the laws and the Constitution,” read the statement.
A Belgian IT expert, deployed by the European Union to support the elections, fell from the 12th floor of his hotel and died late Saturday. According to local media, investigation has been opened into the incident.
UNREST REIGNITED
The eastern part of the DRC, plagued by conflicts and rebel attacks for decades, has seen unrest reignited as the country goes through major political transition.
On Dec. 21, the day after the general elections, fighting resumed between government troops and rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23) in the Masisi territory of North Kivu province.
The M23 rebel group, who resurfaced in late 2021, has triggered conflicts and major humanitarian crisis, and seized major strongholds on Congolese soil.
On Dec. 15, several days before the polling, Corneille Nangaa, a Congolese opposition figure in exile, formed a political-military alliance, “Alliance Fleuve Congo” (AFC), with M23 rebels and other armed groups, to “save the country.”
On Saturday, RED-Tabara, a rebel group based in eastern DRC, claimed responsibility for an attack that left 20 dead late Friday night in a border town in neighboring Burundi. RED-Tabara has been battling the Burundi government since 2015.
Several regions in the eastern part of the DRC, still occupied by rebels, are excluded from holding the elections due to inadequate voter registration.
Tshisekedi and leading opposition candidates, including Martin Fayulu, Moise Katumbi, and Dennis Mukwege, have all campaigned in the east, promising a respite from violence.
The restive North Kivu province also witnessed rising tension between the DRC and Rwanda, raising the risk of direct military confrontation that could involve Burundi.
The DRC has the largest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) on the African continent. Years of violence and insecurity have driven 5.7 million people from their homes, and in Ituri and North Kivu provinces, violence has increased recently, including against civilians living in displacement sites, according to the United Nations.
