POLITICS-DRC: Making Order Out of Chaos for the 2006 Election

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Anjan Sundaram

KINSHASA, Sep 9 2005 (IPS) - Over recent days, thousands of people have queued at voter registration centres in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to ensure they can participate in a landmark poll scheduled to take place by Jun. 30 next year.

The Central African country is also due to hold a referendum on its proposed constitution in November.

The 2006 general election will mark the final phase of efforts to return the DRC to democratic rule after years of civil war. However, officials face considerable challenges in preparing for the vote, given the widespread neglect of services and infrastructure that should be in place for conducting elections in a country the size of Western Europe.

Registration ended in the capital, Kinshasa, in July – and was later extended to all 10 provinces outside the crumbling city; the entire operation is scheduled to wrap up on Sep. 24. Over seven million of the 30 million potential voters in the DRC have been enrolled so far, according to the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) – the body in charge of the poll.

“We have financial and logistical constraints,” says CEI President Appollinaire Malu Malu. “And, the U.N. (United Nations) has been slow to deliver registration kits to some areas, delaying registration.”

The U.N. Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, referred to by its French acronym, MONUC, is currently the world body’s biggest peacekeeping operation.

Plans to complete registration before October hinge on crucial U.N. support in transporting election materials to 166 locations scattered across the country. But until fresh funds of 103 million dollars were approved a few days ago, MONUC was obliged to divert helicopters and vehicles from its military operations for the registration process.

Registration kits consist of a laptop, digital camera, fingerprint scanner and card printer – equipment that often has to travel in dugout canoes and over dirt roads to reach potential voters. Certain registration centres only received their kits a week before they were due to stop enrolling voters, according to the CEI.

Even when the kits do arrive on time, their usefulness may be limited.

“People come here with disintegrating passports, driver’s licenses or student cards, but they cannot even verify their hometowns or addresses,” said Fernando Nzuma, a registration official in the coastal town of Muanda.

“We ask which village they come from, and they just scratch their heads and say they were born in Kinshasa…Should we enroll them or are they fakes?”

Other would-be voters arrive without any documentation at all; instead, they bring a group of friends to vouch for their identity. Registration cards, if issued, will be the first pieces of identification these persons possess.

In Muanda, IPS came across people who were attempting to register after traveling from the depths of neighbouring countries such as Angola, where they had gone to seek work. Some had made the journey in vain.

A group of young boys at the centre in Muanda reacted aggressively when election officials explained that they had to be at least 18 years old to vote.

“This is our right, we will not let politics stop us,” said one, before being dragged away by the police.

“What can we say? The computer rejects their information,” said Nzuma. “They are only 17 years old, but they have come from so far.”

The opposition has accused government and the CEI of poor planning and reporting false registration figures.

“More foreigners have registered than Congolese, and some Congolese have enrolled several times,” said Jean Baptiste Bomanza, spokesman for the main opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress.

Malu Malu concedes that there are instances of Congolese registering more than once, and says a few foreigners have indeed made their way onto the voters’ roll.

“These cases are under investigation and will be sorted out,” he adds. “We are using electronic equipment at the centres that is helping us solve this problem.”

Ongoing instability in the DRC’s eastern provinces also poses a challenge.

Last month, former rebel general Laurent Nkunda announced that he was planning another occupation of Bukavu in eastern DRC – this after taking control of the town just over a year ago, when he alleged government persecution of his ethnic group, the Banyamulenge.

Although authorities dismissed Nkunda’s threats, the brash comments highlighted Kinshasa’s inability to control the east of the country, where former rebels and other factions still terrorise local inhabitants.

The Congolese civil war, spanning five years, pitted government forces backed by Zimbabwe and Angola against Congolese rebels supported by Rwanda and Uganda. Fighting officially came to an end in 2002, by which time nearly four million people had lost their lives – many to hunger and disease.

Kigali has frequently claimed that its involvement in eastern DRC stemmed from the need to take action against Hutu militants who helped carry out the 1994 genocide in Rwanda – and who were using the DRC as a base of operations against the country.

For its part, the United Nations has implicated states involved in the Congolese conflict in resource exploitation.

In a bid to prevent voter intimidation, the CEI has placed a number of neutral observers and police at registration centres – while peacekeeping forces will help secure election booths during the polls. Over 16,000 troops are in the DRC under the auspices of MONUC.

Jun. 30 was initially set as the deadline for the elections, but political leaders called for a delay of at least six months, citing the cost and complexity of the operation. Over 40,000 polling stations will be required on election day.