DR Congo election thread

schumi

schumi

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Cape Town – There are doubts the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will hold the agreed presidential elections this year after an official reportedly revealed that the country will not be able to afford the poll costs.

According to BBC, the central African country's budget minister Pierre Kangudia put the election cost at $1.8bn and said this was "too expensive".

Political parties signed a deal last year, that called on President Joseph Kabila to leave power after an election that would be held by the end of 2017.

The agreement came after months of unrest that left dozens dead.

Kabila became president in 2001 after the assassination of his father, and was constitutionally barred from seeking another term after his mandate expired December 19.

In his New Year's message to the Congolese people, Kabila reasserted his commitment to democracy even as opponents accused him of prolonging his rule through a technicality.

"The source of legitimacy is only through the people at the ballot box," Kabila was quoted as saying at the time.

News24
http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/1...o-expensive-says-drc-budget-minister-20170216
 
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Though seeing the size of the country and the population, the lack of roads including the fact that most voting stations will need army protection, why not ?
 
The election just got more expensive, and unlikely to happen: https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/...aterial-destroyed-in-fire-commission-20181213

Nearly 80% of the materials for staging the December 23 election in DR Congo's capital, Kinshasa, were destroyed when an election warehouse was torched overnight, officials said on Thursday.

The blaze ripped through a large warehouse in central Kinshasa in the early hours of Thursday morning, destroying most of the election materials stored inside, including a large number of controversial touch-screen voting terminals.
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What is the alternative if an election is too expensive? No election?

Please don't tell this little secret to our bunch.
 
Didn't Mugabe pull a similar stunt after coming to power? African politics - you gotta love it.

African politicians : "Now that we're in power the first thing we're going to do is save you money by doing away with expensive elections. Good hey?".

Africans : "Awww, you guys are so good to us. This just proves we were right to vote for you".

Reminds me of the PE ANC giving everyone being investigated for corruption a free pass to save tax payers money. So benevolent.
 
Oxfam suspends Ebola work amid protests over Democratic Republic of Congo vote delays

Oxfam has said it is suspending its Ebola outbreak response work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) due to violent protests by people barred from voting in the presidential election.
The charity's statement comes after the DRC's electoral commission delayed the vote in the Ebola-affected eastern cities of Beni and Butembo until March - well after the next president is inaugurated in January.
Everyone else in the country will get to vote on Sunday, a week after the elections had been due to take place.
Contradicting his own health officials, President Joseph Kabila claimed it would be a "disaster" if people using polling stations to vote infected others.
But the World Health Organisation warned "prolonged insecurity" in the country could erase gains make in tackling Ebola.
Police said 22 people have been arrested in protests against the president's move that began on Thursday.
Beni's police chief, Blaise Safari, told AP officers have been clearing streets of barricades amid the sound of gunfire after the police and army used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse marchers.
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More at: https://news.sky.com/story/oxfam-su...cratic-republic-of-congo-vote-delays-11593539
 
Torrential rain, delays mar Congo's presidential vote

Long queues, broken-down machines and torrential rain in the capital disrupted voting in Democratic Republic of Congo's long-anticipated presidential poll on Sunday, as election officials scrambled to deploy missing voters' rolls.
Three opposition strongholds will see no casting of ballots at all after the authorities cancelled the vote there, citing health risks from an ongoing Ebola outbreak and ethnic violence.
Some polling places in the capital Kinshasa had not yet opened more than six hours after the 6am (local time) start.
Elections are a rare event in Congo, which has been plagued by authoritarian rule, assassinations, coups and civil wars since independence from Belgium in 1960.
If President Joseph Kabila, in power since his father's assassination in 2001, steps down after the vote it will be the country’s first ever democratic transition.
Kabila voted early in the morning in the capital Kinshasa at the same school as the candidate he is backing, former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, whom the latest opinion polls showed trailing two opposition candidates.
"My only concern is that we have this very heavy rain and probably voter turnout might be low, but hopefully the skies will clear, and the voters will turn out in numbers," Kabila, wearing a dark blue suit, told reporters.
The Catholic bishops conference (CENCO) said voting had not started on time at 830 polling stations, equivalent to about one-fifth of the stations across the country where it had deployed observers. It also said 846 polling stations were installed in "prohibited places" like military and police posts.
"Some (voters) do not even know how to use the voting machine," said Kayembe Mvita Dido, who was waiting in line at a polling station in the eastern city of Goma, in the shadows of the towering Nyiragongo volcano. He was referring to the new electronic voting system, criticised by the opposition as vulnerable to fraud.
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More at: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/af...ial-rain-delays-mar-congos-presidential-vote/
 
And he is correct. I'm sure the cost isn't even half of that.
 
DRC cuts internet for second day to avert 'chaos' before poll results


Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC's) government cut internet connections and SMS services across the country for a second straight day on Tuesday as the country nervously awaited results from the weekend's chaotic presidential election.

Both the opposition and ruling coaltion said on Monday they were on track to win after a turbulent election day on Sunday in which many Congolese were unable to vote due to an Ebola outbreak, conflict and logistical problems.


Barnabe Kikaya bin Karubi, a senior adviser to President Joseph Kabila, said internet and SMS services were cut to preserve public order after "fictitious results" began circulating on social media.

"That could lead us straight toward chaos," Kikaya told Reuters, adding the connections would remain cut until the publication of complete results on January 6.

The signal to Radio France Internationale (RFI), one of the most popular news sources in Congo, was also down, and the government withdrew the accreditation of RFI's main correspondent in the country late on Monday for having aired unofficial results from the opposition.
The various moves reflected high tensions in Congo, where the long-delayed election was meant to choose a successor to Kabila, who is due to step down next month after 18 years in power - and two years after the official end of his mandate.
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More at: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/af...econd-day-to-avert-chaos-before-poll-results/
 
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More delays while they 'count' the votes: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46771360

Election officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have delayed publishing the results of last Sunday's presidential vote, despite growing calls for the outcome to be announced.

The electoral commission said the result would be revealed "next week".

Earlier this week the influential Catholic Church, which fielded thousands of election observers, said there was a clear winner.

It called for the result to be made public to avoid political unrest.

This drew an angry response from the coalition in power which said the church was "doing something illegal" and accused it of "preparing the population for insurrection".

The Church had been vocal in its opposition to the extension of President Joseph Kabila's rule.

He is stepping down after 17 years in office and has promised DR Congo's first orderly transfer of power since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960.

The official result was due to be announced on Sunday, although the electoral commission had warned a few days ago this could be delayed.

The head of the commission, Corneille Nangaa, said on Saturday that less than half of all the votes had been counted.
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The internet has been down since the morning of the 31st. It's still down, so a lot of VoIP routes are not working.

I talked to a member of my team there yesterday, he says that the results are probably going to be out on the 17th.

A lot of expats have extended their holidays already, so it won't be business as usual for a while
 
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46819303

Opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi has won the Democratic Republic of Congo's tightly contested presidential vote, the electoral commission says.

Provisional results put him ahead of another opposition candidate Martin Fayulu, and the ruling coalition's Emmanuel Shadary.

If confirmed, Mr Tshisekedi will be the first opposition challenger to win since the DR Congo gained independence.

Current President Joseph Kabila is stepping down after 18 years in office.

He had promised DR Congo's first orderly transfer of power since the country's independence from Belgium in 1960.

The election outcome was initially expected to be announced on Sunday. The interim result can still be challenged.

In the early hours of Thursday the head of DR Congo's National Electoral Commission (Ceni), Corneille Nangaa, said Mr Tshisekedi had received 38.5% of the vote and had been "provisionally declared the elected president".

The full results were, with turnout reportedly 48%:
Felix Tshisekedi - 7 million votes
Martin Fayulu - 6.4 million votes
Emmanuel Shadary - 4.4 million votes

Mr Tshisekedi, who is the son of late veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, has promised to make the fight against poverty his priority.
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