Congo News n. 135

 EDITORIAL: IN ANTICIPATION

 There are ominous clouds of warning and worry before, on December 17th, the Supreme Court of the Democratic Republic of Congo, after reviewing the appeals filed with it, gives the final verdict on the results of the presidential elections. The protests by the opposition, the heavy military intervention of the state to repress opponents, the civilian casualties, the resurgence of old tensions between provinces supporting one or the other candidate (Katanga and Kasai), the reports by various national and international associations and institutions on the voting methods and the vote count, the individual positions … the people are growing more worried by the day.

It is not just the voting results or the victory of either of the two candidates that is worrying the people, but also the use of violence by each rival. By the winner, to suppress any attempt or desire for rebellion, and by the loser, for claiming his alleged rights.

Lack of confidence by the opposition parties with respect to the Supreme Court, which they consider beholden to the outgoing President, Joseph Kabila, is a threat. It may be hoped that they follow the advice given by the Cardinal Archbishop of Kinshasa, Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, who, though declaring the results published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) contrary to the ‘truth and justice’, urged all aggrieved parties to approach the Supreme Court. How will they act?

Throughout these days, the ruling power intervened excessively through the police, in many cases, brutally to the extent of murdering civilians. Is there a risk of having a violent dictatorship under the guise of saving a democracy?

Right now, the strength of the DR Congo is its people, who no longer wish to enter into the spiral of violence. The strength of the DR Congo is also the international community, if it agrees to put its full weight behind having the outcome of the polls respected by all, despite the many blunders of the electoral process. More than ever, it is important now that we keep our eyes open on the DR Congo: the civil society and the entire population are asking for it. It’s for each of us to remember these people in our thoughts, and, for those who believe, in our prayers!

 

 

1. THE DAY BEFORE THE PUBLICATION OF THE INTERIM RESULTS

 

The activity of the Electoral Commission

 

On the 7th of December, the Katanga Ceni released its final report compiling the results of the presidential election. According to the report, the compilation rate for the entire province is 99%, while the results of 51 of the 1442 polling stations that make up the city of Lubumbashi have not yet been found at the local compilation centre (CLCR).

The Katanga Ceni has provided the list and codes of these fifty-one polling stations scattered over several localities of Lubumbashi, for which the CLCR has not yet found the results. They represent more than twenty thousand votes which have disappeared. These polling stations were indeed open on November 28th, as confirmed by the provincial executive secretary of Katanga Ceni, Eddy MUTOMB, who attributes the loss partly to disturbances occurring in Lubumbashi that day.

For example, the centre of the Ndandja school in Kampemba town, which housed twenty polling stations, had been attacked by armed men who set afire the ballot boxes and the polling booths.

According to the executive secretary, the Katanga Ceni is finalizing its report of the situation in order to send it to Kinshasa, mentioning the loss of the results of fifty-one polling stations. [1]

On December 7th, during the weekly conference, the spokesman for the UN Mission for the stabilization of the DRC (Monusco), Madnodje Mounoubai, said the Mission “does not have the mandate to certify the results of elections on November 28th”. Madnodje Mounoubai said the Monusco plays no role in determining the outcome of elections in the DRC, “We do not have that mandate,” he explains. [2]

On December8th, for the second consecutive time, the Ceni announced the postponement of the publication of the interim results of the presidential elections to Friday, December 9th. Its president, Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, said that his office should take the time to check each compilation report of the polls.”We need to compare whether the results received by the reports correspond to the ones received by satellite. It’s a huge task and we must carry it out to ensure the credibility and conformity of the figures that we are going to publish by each CLCR [local results compilation Centre], by each province,” justified the President of CENI, Pastor Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, while speaking to the media. Other sources suggest another reason for the delay. According to them, the office of the CENI is actually undermined by internal dissension and two members from the opposition are currently refusing to publish the results they consider false. [3]

 

The opposition rejects the partial results

On December 7th, during a press briefing in Kinshasa, Mr. Jacquemain Shabani, Secretary General of the Union for Democracy and Social Development (UDPS), said that his party, which rejects outright the partial results published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), requires of this citizens’ institution the traceability of the figures being published as the provisional results this Thursday, December 8th. “The results should be published polling station by polling station, centre by centre to allow for the comparison of figures. The partial publications by CENI are opaque, biased and without reference. These partial results raise doubts in our minds. That is why the UDPS does not accept them,” he said.

Considering from the beginning the partial figures published by the CENI as “void”, saying they did not reflect “the truth of the polls” and denouncing irregularities and fraud in the elections, he repeated that “the Congolese people clearly voted for change as confirmed by the results displayed at all polling stations and that “no coup, no attempt at elections hold-up can take place. The CENI should show us the 169 authentic reports of the 169 local results compilation centres”.

According to the Secretary General of the UDPS, the postponement of the publication of provisional results is understood by his party as a means for the CENI to correct the mistakes and take a responsible attitude towards what he calls the truth of the polls. [4]

 For Tharcisse Nembalemba Loseke, co-founder and member of the “Dynamique Tshisekedi Président,” a coalition of parties supporting Etienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba,

the opposition members in Ceni (MLC and ODR) could ratify the “preliminary results” of the presidential election, only if these “figures” are supported by compilation reports in proper form for each voting constituency. “Each envelope from a constituency should be checked to ensure the authenticity of signatures of persons authorized at the local result compilation centres,” he said. And concluding that “Any contrary action would amount to a coup”.[5]

On December 8th, three UDPS activists were killed in the afternoon, in Kinshasa, during clashes with police at Limete, Etienne Tshisekedi’s home-town. One of the activists was shot dead, while two others were crushed by a police jeep, party spokesman, Albert Moleka, announced in the evening. Already earlier in the afternoon, the police had dispersed a few dozen young opposition activists gathered there. There also have been some arrests.

The challenge to the possible re-election of Joseph Kabila for a second five-year term has sparked fears of unrest, particularly in Kinshasa, under heavy police surveillance for several days.

Gatherings of opposition supporters are being systematically dispersed there. The dispersion is through tear gas but also with live rounds. The city of some ten million people is now living in slow motion: schools and administrative offices are closed, taxis scarce, people are reluctant to leave, and at night the streets are deserted. Day after day, reports a Congolese journalist, the use of Molotov cocktails is spreading amongst the outraged in Kinshasa. But he will not write, because “the media that dare take a position contrary to the system or criticize the Electoral Commission are closed without further ado”. There are also fears of violence in Katanga province (southeast), a stronghold of Kabila and the provinces of Western and Eastern Kasai, Tshisekedi’s home region. [6]

 

Releases by International Crisis Group and the Episcopal Conference

 

On December 8th, in a statement, International Crisis Group (ICG) says that “a week after the presidential and legislative elections, the Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a political crisis that could plunge the country again in a major cycle of violence. The results (final CENI, ed.) may cause opposition protests, strong repression by law enforcement agencies and increased disorder”.

ICG lists the points that make this election questionable:

– The “political imbalance in favour of Joseph Kabila,”

– The constitutional amendment allowing establishment of a vote by a single round, much more favourable to the outgoing president, the votes of the opposition being “scattered”

– The appointment of “loyalists to the Electoral Commission (CENI) and the Supreme Court,”

– The prohibition of access to voters’ lists for the opposition and observers

– The “state controlled media providing publicity for the President” …

– “Haphazard management” of the voting (lack of lists, ballots and ballot boxes), localized violence and reported fraud (voter intimidation, ballot stuffing …) “,” chaotic and dangerously opaque counting of ballots.

To find a solution, ICG calls for “urgent international and regional action in order to save the elections and to persuade the Congolese leaders to refrain from violence”. Two tasks which do not appear easy. ICG proposes several measures to try end the crisis:

– The election commission shall count the ballots in a transparent manner (…). It must publish the results of each polling station, to allow an independent audit;

– The authorities should clearly explain the options available to the political parties and observers for challenging the results of each polling station (..);

– All Congolese leaders should avoid hate speech. Since the demonstrations are likely to become violent, political leaders should not call for protests after the announcement of results;

– If demonstrations take place, the security forces must refrain from using excessive force. Any violence must be investigated by Congolese and international human rights organizations, and, where appropriate, by the ICC;

– The UN, the AU and the EU should immediately send a high-level mediation between the parties. A power-sharing agreement is not desirable. Mediators need to explore options for an alternative mechanism for settling the issue of contested elections or look for independent oversight of existing mechanisms (possibly under the auspices of the AU and with international support). They must also find a way to avoid a constitutional crisis since Kabila’s mandate expires this week.[7]

On December 8th, in a statement signed by P. Donatien Nshole, first deputy secretary-general of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (Cenco), the bishops of DRC reacted strongly to an article published on Wednesday, December 7th at the site of the Embassy of the DRC in Belgium, and denounced the use of their comments during the presidential election on Monday, November 28th.

Outraged by what they consider an “extrapolation” and anxious to remove any “ambiguity”, the bishops point out that the data cited by the author of the article are for 47% of the 3000 polling stations covered by the 6000 observers of Cenco, or 1,410 polling stations out of 63,865 under the Ceni, i.e. 2.2% of the total. “The most regrettable thing is the nitpicking and truth distortion by the author through very biased selection” , stressed the statement.

The Cenco provides a number of clarifications. If, as the article states, almost all (94%) observers of the Cenco could freely access the polling stations and if 97.6% of the displayed results were consistent with those observed, “it must be well understood that the results in question are not the partial results published by the Ceni, but rather those displayed at the polling stations”, the statement said.

Among the noted irregularities, the Cenco observes that in 27% of cases, the number of ballots was less than the number of voters; that voting procedures were discontinued in 27.8% of cases; harassment and intimidation of voters in 11.1 % of cases; corruption or vote buying in 22.2% of cases; and violence in 38.9% of cases.

The conclusion of the statement is clear: “From the foregoing, it is clear that with a sample of 2.2% of all polling stations, the Cenco is not in a position to comment on the trends of the results of presidential elections. It is not fair to say that the Catholic Church is in agreement with the results of the Ceni” .

The Church had already called to respect the truth of the polls.

On December 5th, Bishop Nicolas Djomo, president of Cenco, had already set the record straight: “The Cenco urges the Congolese people, the politicians and the Ceni to stick absolutely to the truth of polls as expressed and displayed at the polling stations. To ensure the peaceful conduct and credibility of results, as stipulated in Article 63 of the electoral law, the partial publication should include the number of people enrolled, actual voters, void ballots and votes cast for each candidate. ” [8]

 

 

2. PUBLICATION OF THE INTERIM RESULTS

 

On December 9th, the Independent National Electoral Commission (Ceni) of the Democratic Republic of Congo published the full provisional results of the presidential election of November 28th.The outgoing president, Joseph Kabila, got 8,880,944 votes or 48.95% of the vote.

The opponent Etienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba, leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) is second with 5,864,795 votes or 32.33% of the vote. In the city-province of Kinshasa, Etienne Tshisekedi obtained more than 64% of the vote, against 30% for the incumbent President Joseph Kabila. The former president of the National Assembly and opponent, Vital Kamerhe came in at 3rd place with 7.74% of the vote ahead of the President of the Senate Leon Kengo (4.45%).The other seven candidates achieved scores below 2%.

Of the 32,024,640 registered voters, 18,911,752 voted, a turnout of 58.81%, with a total of 18,143,104 valid votes cast. The CENI has posted on its website the results of the presidential elections, which are often incomplete. For instance, the details by polling stations never mention the number of enrolled.

The 11 candidates have 48 hours to file challenges in the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), which will officially announce the final results on December 17th. However, the CSJ has already faced criticism. In late November the missions of the European Union (EU) and the Carter Centre had denounced its “lack of transparency” in the area of electoral disputes. Up to the 28th of October, the Supreme Court had seven judges, but President Kabila appointed new ones to arrive at a total of 27. The new president, elected for five years, will be sworn in on December 20th. [9]

 

 

3. AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF RESULTS

 

The reactions of the opposition parties

On the 9th of December, the opposition candidate Etienne Tshisekedi rejected the results published by the CENI and quickly proclaimed himself the winner of the election and “president-elect of the Democratic Republic of Congo”, “I consider these declarations as a provocation of the Congolese people” said Etienne Tshisekedi,”There are no two presidents; We have records clearly showing I win by far”. Mr. Tshisekedi has given himself a score of “54% of the votes allocated to me against 26% for Mr. Kabila”. Speaking to his supporters, he said: “Accordingly, I consider myself now as an elected president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. And thank you for the confidence you have always placed in me, and I ask you to remain calm in dealing with the aftermath, till the time I give you the required directives”. Addressing the international community, Etienne Tshisekedi said: “I ask the international community to take steps to not only find a solution to this problem, but also to prevent Congolese blood from flowing again”. He also refused to contest the announced victory of Joseph Kabila before the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ): “There is no justice by Kabila. This Court is a private institution of Mr. Kabila. We can not do them the honour of appealing to them (the judges of the Court). It would recognize their legitimacy. I never will do that, “he said.

Placed at 3rd place (7.74%) by CENI, the opponent Vital Kamerhe also “categorically” rejected the results and recognized the victory of Tshisekedi. The President of the Union for the Congolese nation (UNC) said that the results of the Ceni proclaiming Joseph Kabila the winner of the Nov. 28th presidential elections do not reflect the will of the Congolese people. According to Vital Kamerhe, the actual results posted at polling stations after counting on the evening of November 28th, 2011 are totally different from those published by the Ceni. [10]

 

On December 10th, the resistance started forming at the residence of Etienne Tshisekedi, at Limete, Activists of the UDPS are aggregating the reports published by the polling stations for comparing them with the results published by the CENI. Their goal is to show that Joseph Kabila’s victory is fraudulent. They may have retrieved more than half of the reports from the 64,000 polling stations. “Basically, we have Etienne Tshisekedi at 56% and Joseph Kabila at 37%,” says Jean-Marie Beya, a member of the opposition team, figures that are radically different from those provided by the Ceni. [11]

 

On the 12th of December, the Congolese opposition said it is not going to the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) on irregularities in the presidential election of November 28th.It said “this court does not inspire confidence,” because “it is subservient to the candidate number 3, Joseph Kabila”. The electoral law authorizes the Supreme Court to publish the final results of presidential elections, if not contested through a petition of protest 48 hours after the publication of the provisional results.

Because of the chaotic organization of the poll, the opposition would be very hard-pressed to contest the elections before the Supreme Court. Two reasons: the irregularities are so numerous and the logistics so chaotic that it would be very difficult to establish anything before the Supreme Court (no reliable figures, closed polling stations, lost ballots, duplicates on the electoral register. ..).

Second, difficulty in proving the fraud: Joseph K Abila replaced a few months ago the majority of the Supreme Court of Justice. It seems that new members are very “close” to the president’s party. In this context, the Congolese opposition is left with few options: challenging the “unchallengeable” before a Supreme Court “infiltrated” by the outgoing president, or take to “the streets” at the risk of plunging the country in a spiral of violence. [12].

 

On December 12th, at 16 hours GMT, the time for filing of appeals on electoral disputes for the presidency ended. The candidate Vital Kamerhe, president of the UNC, filed his appeal, describing it on behalf of the opposition in response to the urgent appeals of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and especially the cardinal Monsengwo, who while condemning the outcome of the election, exhorted the opposition to use all legal remedies.

Vital Kamerhe was, in fact, accompanied with other leading lights of the opposition including Jacques Pierre Chalupa Tshisekedi and Felix, the son of the opponent Etienne Tshisekedi. He also claimed to have thus “fulfilled our formality” but he said: “It will be a gathering of lawyers. It will be the entire Congolese people, the Catholic Church, the Carter Centre and the international community, all are with us. And I think it’s rather very strong pressure”. In addition, the president of the UNC continues to question the independence of senior judges: “Some judges were appointed at the beginning and during the election campaign. And so we have strong reasons to doubt the integrity of these people”. Vital Kamerhe claims to know the way the CSJ will state the law, “it will be in favour of the incumbent”. But he draws the attention of judges of the court: “The Congolese people have their eyes on the CSJ. They [the judges] have the opportunity to enter the history of our country positively or negatively. ” [13]

 

The High Court will determine whether Vital Kamerhe is acting in an individual capacity, or on behalf of his party UNC or in the name of the Opposition. Under section 73 of the Electoral Act, there are two ways to challenge the results of the presidential election. Either a party or political grouping that fielded a candidate in the elections or its authorized representative or a candidate who ran for president can contest the elections. But the Opposition is not recognized by the election law as a political grouping, because it is not organized and structured with statutes, rules of procedure and a spokesman. Moreover, Vital Kamerhe has no status of spokesman for the Opposition. And therefore he is not entitled to file on behalf of the entire opposition in court. If Vital Kamerhe had filed the petition on behalf of his party, the UNC, the appeal could be declared admissible. But that is not enough. He will have to provide the proof affecting his election to the Presidency of the Republic. In conclusion, the motion to quash the results of the presidential election on November 28th, 2011, by Vital Kamerhe or the Opposition (it depends), could turn out to be null and void. [14]

 

The reactions of the international community

 

On December 9th, Belgium took notice of the results and called for violence to be avoided, while Paris urged the Congolese authorities to “maintain public order while respecting the rule of law”. The United Kingdom said it was “concerned” about suspicions of “irregularities” and called the CSJ to examine all the claims “quickly and transparently”. The European Union has called for calm and urged any disputes over the results to be settled “through legal channels”. The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed for calm, urging “all candidates to exercise restraint and to refrain from any act of violence, provocation and incitement to violence”. [15]

 

Incidents in Kinshasa, Mbuji-Mayi and Kamina

 

On December 9th, in Kinshasa, the announcement of the results triggered an explosion of joy and horns in the hitherto silent and deserted residential area of Gombe, home of the outgoing president. In other parts of the capital Kinshasa, Tshisekedi’s supporters, however, began protests. “We lost the battle but we have not lost the war,” said a young activist of the opposition party, the UDPS, outside the headquarters of this movement in a popular neighbourhood of the capital. In some areas of Kinshasa, which have been under heavy police and military surveillance for several days, clashes erupted and shots were heard shortly after the announcement of election results. Some limited looting also took place. No major incidents were reported previously in the rest of the country. [16]

 

On December 9th, Kinshasa, in the districts of Matonge and Kauka after the announcement of provisional results, people were holed up at home leaving the streets to the law enforcement agencies. After some time, residents of these neighbourhoods came out and immediately began to throw stones against the riot police on patrol in these areas. Other young people hostile to President Kabila burned tires along the Victoire, Université and Bongolo avenues. In the towns of Ngiri-Ngiri on the Elengesa and Kasavubu avenues, barricades were erected on the roads. An increased number of police were visible at the roundabout Moulaert in Bandalungwa town. Scuffles broke out here between young people of Ngiri-Ngiri and Bandalungwa and law enforcement forces.In the town of Ngaliema, there were cases of looting of shops run by people of Chinese origin, especially on Matadi and Lalou streets. Scenes of violence of this kind have also been reported in several other areas of the city of Kinshasa, an opposition stronghold. In the very popular neighbourhood of Bandali (centre), youths burned tires and threw stones at armed police. Shots were heard in this area and also at Limete (east), the headquarters of the opponent Etienne Tshisekedi. Police dispersed the groups of activists with tear gas. [17]

 

December 10th, Kinshasa crisscrossed by the police, military and members of the Republican Guard, presents a picture of desolation. Almost no taxis or vehicles run on the roads; gas stations along with many stores are closed. Residents accuse police of stealing phones, money and mobile phones. One could still hear a few sporadic shots at noon. At Limete, where Etienne Tshisekedi has his headquarters, a witness testified that the “fighters” (activists) of the UDPS, were armed with Kalashnikovs.

In the locality of Bumbu (centre), civilians armed with baseball bats confronted police officers carrying out forced arrests. The police, running short of handcuffs, tied up three young men with thin ropes restrainng their arms. “You are the instigators! You, you’re there to make the people revolt “, a policeman roars, while another officer slaps one of the suspects. He does not flinch. Another young man, accused of having set fire to a tire, pleads innocence and asks for God’s help. Three other plain-dressed youth accompany the police. “They help us find the trouble makers who want to sow unrest, because with our uniforms, we are very visible,” explains a policeman, while one of the “helpers” holds a section of railing as a weapon. According to some reports, some members of the security forces were conducting operations dressed in plain clothes.

Similar scenes at Mombele. Police officers enter homes and whisk way some youth. The arrested are taken in a vehicle. A father comes to pick his son, his other young children screaming and crying in fear. “He did nothing!” he yells. “We will kill you!” threatens a police officer to scare him away. Another youth is arrested, “How brutal!” whispered an old man who witnessed the scene. In the towns of Bandal, lime, Kitambo, Ngiri Ngiri or Kasavubu youth blocked the entrance to streets with makeshift barricades. Some had a stone, a stick or a machete in hand and on the floor one could still see many traces of burnt tires.

According to testimonies, six people, including two women, were shot dead on Saturday, December 10th in the city of Kinshasa. Among the victims, three people were shot dead in Kimbanseke, near the old town hall of Ndjili. A local young man from ward 8 was shot at ward 7 as he looted the Mwape school. At Ngiringiri, a 19 year old girl was hit by a bullet in the head on her way out to buy bread. Another young man was killed in the neighbourhood behind the Makala prison. [18]

 

December 11th, a quiet unease reigned in the city of Kinshasa. Public transport resumed, and there were reports of reopening of gas stations which had remained closed since Friday evening to prevent youth from acquiring the fuel used to make Molotov cocktails. Petty trade resumed as well as the Sunday worship, however with low attendance. [19]

 

On December 12th, normal life resumed in Kinshasa and almost all services operated normally. The shops, stores and markets, government services, banks and hospitals reopened. Most primary and secondary schools, however, remained closed. The few students who attended were asked to return home. [20]

 

On the 10th of December, the city of Mbuji-Mayi wore a deserted look. In markets, the sellers were dispersed by police. The empty streets are occupied by armed men. There is no public transportation. Only a few taxi-motorbikes are visible. Barriers are erected on the highway. In some places, one can see the remains of burnt tires by young people. Armed men are stationed at strategic locations in the city. The night after the publication of results by Ceni was very tense. Strong detonations of heavy and light weapons were heard throughout the city. Assaults by armed men were reported throughout the city. One person was shot dead during the night by unknown gunmen in the town of Bipemba. The homes of some opposition figures have been the target of armed men, according to testimony. Shots rang out again on Saturday morning around the strongholds of the UDPS. These shots were heard on Friday around 20h, after a strong clamour rose from the city. The people had come to learn that the UDPS candidate had declared himself president. People were out to show their joy with screams, whistles and sounds of trumpets. The police had then intervened to disperse them using tear gas. [21]

 

On December 10th, several sources reported acts of xenophobia with respect to people of outside origin at Kamina and in some cities and towns of the province of Katanga. Attacks and extortion of goods on people of outside origin, especially the Kasai, were recorded in ward 82 of Kamina. Families at risk (not less than three hundred people) gathered at the railway station at Kamina. These victims are made up mostly women and children. According to a witness, they are “surrounded by Youth from UNAFEC”, the National Union of Federalists of Congo Kyungu wa Kumwanza, president of the Provincial Assembly. According to field reports, by mid-day, an initial group of Kasaians left Kamina for Mwene-Ditu (East Kasai) by train. Other testimonies also reported acts of xenophobia at Kambove, Likasi and Kolwezi. For several days, consistent reports indicate threats posed by Katanga to non-ethnic people, who remained outside the electoral process. [22]

 

The statements from the Carter Centre, the Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo and Election Observation Mission of the European Union

 

In a statement on December 10th, international observers from the Carter Centre said that the process of compiling the results of the presidential election was “not credible”. “The results of the presidential elections are characterized by such irregularities that they ‘lack credibility’.

In many offices of Katanga, Kabila got 100% of the vote, with very high rate of turnout and polling stations counted”. “At various locations (…) very high turnout rates ranging from 99 to 100% were reported, which is impossible with all or nearly all the votes going to Kabila,” the Carter Centre notes . The NGO cites for instance the case of the constituency of Malemba Nkulu where, with 493 polling stations and a turnout of 99.46%, Kabila got 100% of the votes cast (266,886).

However, in other areas where “Etienne Tshisekedi has high scores, the percentage of polling stations counted and turnout rates are extremely low,” observes the NGO. In the province of Kasai Occidental (centre), where Mr. Tshisekedi has often received very good scores, “in 11 of 12 CLCR, turnout was below the national average,” which was 58.81%. Likewise, in the constituency of Mbuji-Mayi (East Kasai, centre), a stronghold of Mr. Tshisekedi, he gets 97.29% of the vote, but the turnout is only 51.47%, with counting of the results for 86.03% of polling stations. In Kinshasa, too, the rate of compilation and turnout are often lower. Thus, in the constituency of Lukunga, only 1,709 offices (of 2593) were considered, with 386,288 registered voters out of 833,513.

The Carter Centre notes haphazard organization in the process of counting. It cites instances of ballots trampled underneath people’s feet on the floor, or result sheets soaked by rain and then suspended on sticks to dry. According to the Carter Centre in the capital, “nearly 2,000 bundles of results of polling stations were lost (representing about 350,000 voters) and will never be counted”, and another 1,000 bundles lost in the rest of the country (about 500,000 voters).

According to the NGO, “these and other findings indicate poor management of the processing of results and thus compromise the integrity of the presidential elections”. However, these findings do not mean “that the final order of candidates (note: Ist, Kabila, 2nd Tshisekedi ) is necessarily different” from that announced by the CENI, but “just that the results compiling process is not credible,” the NGO stresses. [23]

 

In a statement to the press in Kinshasa, on 12th December, the archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo, termed the results of the presidential published by the Ceni as “inconsistent with the truth and justice” . “How do we understand, for example, that on December 6th, Mr. Tshisekedi who had 5,927,728 votes out of 17,329,137 votes cast, is left with 5,863,745 votes out of 18,144,154 on December 9, thereby losing 64,000 votes? ” wrote the Archbishop of Kinshasa in a short statement in which he also called on protesters to use legal means and not to engage in violence, explaining that the results were preliminary and had to be confirmed by the Supreme Court. “In this context, the Church is morally obliged to offer assistance to justice to establish the truth of the polls where its observers were present,” the Archbishop said. [24]

 

In a statement On the 13th of December, the Election Observation Mission of the European Union deplored the lack of transparency and irregularities in the procedures for collecting, compiling and publishing the results of the presidential election.

Observers from the European Union indicate that several agents of candidates and political parties were unable to observe all stages of compilation in Katanga, Kinshasa, South Kivu and the eastern Province. The lack of observers in the consolidation of the results of at the National Electoral Commission in Kinshasa is “bound to affect the confidence and credibility in the announced results,” said the Electoral Observation Mission of the EU.

It also identified a number of local results compilation centres (CLCR) who did not post the results of the compilation immediately after elections. “The immediate public display was a sign of transparency, but also the signal the Congolese people expected and are still expecting to ensure that the results accurately reflect the will of their vote,” said Chief of this mission, Mariya Nedelcheva”. Contrary to the electoral law, the office of the CENI asked several CLCR not to immediately display the results of the compilation but to send them first to the CENI headquarters so that consistency checks can be carried out,” said the EU mission, which cites the cases of Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Kisangani and Goma.

In addition, the secure transit of the bundles to the CENI, the Provincial Executive Secretariat (SEP) and the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) was not systematic and immediate. Finally, the system of satellite transmission of results, called “V-sat,” was not uniformly present.

The mission statement indicates that a significant number of polling stations were not taken into account. He cites the Ceni figure of 4,875 polling stations not considered throughout the Congolese territory, of which 2,020 in Kinshasa alone. This figure represents 1.6 million voters, or 7.63% of total 64,000 stations.

The same document indicates lack of transparency in the publication of provisional results : “Though the Ceni has finally released detailed results by polling station, they do not include the scans of reports from each polling station established at the end of the count. These results contain the electronic input of reports, carried out within the CLCR, sometimes without witnesses. Several poll results published on the evening of the count, including Lubumbashi, do not correspond with those published by the Ceni. “

In addition, the observation mission of the European Union notes that “nearly 3.2 million people voted on waiver or failure lists, i.e. more than 17% of the total voting because their names were missing on the list of offices”. The provinces most marked by this phenomenon are Kinshasa (27.77%), North Kivu (24.5%), Equateur (20.29%), South Kivu (19.02%) and Bandundu (18.54%).

“It is the responsibility of political actors and Congolese institutions to conduct their own audit of the election results and identify solutions to the current situation,” said the head of the EU EOM, the Bulgarian MP Mariya Nedelcheva, quoted in the press release. [25]

 

Footnotes

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[1] See Radio Okapi, 08.12. ‘ 11

[2] See Radio Okapi, 07.12. ‘ 11

[3] See Radio Okapi, 08.12. ’11, RFI, 09.12. ‘ 11

[4] See Pitshou Mulumba – The Potential – Kinshasa, 08.12. ’11; AFP – Kinshasa, 08.12. ‘ 11

[5] See BAW – Congo Independent, 07.12. ‘ 11

[6] See Belga – RTBF, 08.12. ‘ 11

[7] See AFP – Kinshasa, 08.12. ‘ 11

[8] SEE Martin of Sauto – The Cross, 09.12. ‘ 11

[9] See AFP – Kinshasa, 09.12. ’11, Radio Okapi, 09.12. ‘ 11

[10] See AFP – Kinshasa, 09.12. ’11, Radio Okapi, 09 and 10.12. ‘ 11

[11] See RTBF, 11.12. ‘ 11

[12] See Radio Okapi, 12.12. ’11, Christophe Rigaud – Afrikarabia, 11.12. ‘ 11

[13] See Radio Okapi, 12.12. ‘ 11

[14] See the potential – Kinshasa, 14.12. ‘ 11

[15] See AFP – Kinshasa, 09.12. ‘ 11

[16] See AFP – Kinshasa, 09.12. ’11, Radio Okapi, 09.12. ‘ 11

[17] See AFP – Kinshasa, 09.12. ’11, Radio Okapi, 09.12. ‘ 11

[18] See AFP – Kinshasa, 10.12. ’11, Radio Okapi, 10.12. ‘ 11

[19] See Pana – Africa Online – Africatime, 12.12. ‘ 11

[20] See Radio Okapi, 12.12. ‘ 11

[21] See Radio Okapi, 10.12. ‘ 11

[22] See Radio Okapi, 11.12. ‘ 11

[23] See AFP – Kinshasa, 11.12. ’11, Belga – Le Soir, 11.12. ‘ 11

[24] See Radio Okapi, 12.12. ’11.In fact, according to partial results on December 6 published on the website of Radio Okapi, Mr. Tshisekedi had received 5,927,528 votes. While according to complete provisional results, he received 5,864,775 votes. So, Mr. Tshisekedi has lost 52,753 votes (Editor’s note).

[25] See Radio Okapi, 13.12. ’11; AFP – Kinshasa, 13.12. ‘ 11

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This English translation has been possible thanks to the project Mondo Lingua: Free translation of websites for NGOs and non-profit-making organisations. A project managed by Mondo Services. Translator: Kashif Islam – link (http://www.mondo-lingua.org/)