Joseph Kabila Kabange is elected for the second time president of DR Congo and why the opposition failed presidential elections
December 9th 2011 is a date on which Pastor Ngoy Mulunda, the president of the “Commission Electorale Nationale Independante”, made an official anouncement of the provisory results of presidential elections done in November 28th 2011 , elections which opposed 11 differents candidates on presidential elections in DR Congo.
These results will be confirmed by the supreme court after afterward. The oppositon have been given 48 hours to bring their case to the court which, before a new president, is confirmed by the atome General known as Supreme Court in DR Congo.
Joseph Kabila Kabange won the elections over other candidates with 48.95 % ; Etienne Tchisekedi wa Mulumba, the opposition leader lost elections with 32%, followed by Vital Kamerhe who had only 8%.
Other candidates shared the rest of percentages.
According to the congolese constitution there should not be the second round, the person who gets high percentages on elections on the first round is the one who win election. There is no second round in Congo in elections.
The opposition failed to have only one candidate, each of the 10 candidates from the opposition parties wanted to be elected as a president. This might be the only one reason which made the opposition to loose elections. More attempt for the opposition to have one candidate was done, but all effort failed.
To come back during the time of registration of people voting and before the time of presidential campain, the opposition parties such as UDPS, MLC, UNC, and other parties from the opposition blamed the ‘’Commission Electorale Nationale Independante’’ to prepare massive fraud and give chance to Joseph Kabila to rule over DR Congo again.
The ’’Commission Electorale Nationale Independante’’ reduced the registration offices comparing to the registration of 2006 elections. Towns and villages which are more populated had very few offices for registration and very few equipment as well.
Some remote villages which had few people had more registration offices, other villages people walked very long distances and had an over night over there to be registered.
The electoral law says: a place where one is registered for vote is a place he has to vote from; this made people to rush in deep villages travelling very long distance to be registered for only in a frame time of 30 days. This was the case of the whole country.
Many of the Congolese were registered but doubted as well about their participation during elections due to long distances and election was supposed to be done for a day only.
Many said that time: “we register just for having an ID but might not participate to elections”.
The registration cards for elections plays the role of Identities in DR Congo. Every time when there is elections the previous ID expires.
Since the end of Mobutu regime there is no printing of new IDs and this is now so far many years since no IDs are printed. More people did not vote on 28 november 2011 because of being registered far from their places where they lived.
The opposition parties were predicting massive fraud being prepared.
Looking at how people suffer in the DR Congo, Etienne Tchisekedi, Vital Kamerhe, Mbusa Nyamwisi, Kengo wa Dondo, thought that there was no other chance for Joseph Kabila to win elections once again.
These opposition leaders were accusing Joseph Kabila for not improving the social living conditions of congolese and his government being characterized with greedy, corruption, injustice, lack of security and massive rape of women and children in the Eastern part of the DR Congo, mismanagement of public funds, etc.
Looking at that they expressed the idea that, he is coworking with the electoral commission to prepare fraud for he had no other chance to win elections again.
They denounced as well, the fact that people from the opposition were stopped to operate in freedom because of the ruling parties, known as presidential majority, used the police, army and security agency to suppress works of the opposition. It was applied as well to the media in many ways.
The opposition made an alarm about the existence of fictional voting offices. This made reporters of radio okapi to check if it was true, and radio okapi made a survey. The radio okapi reporters made it open on the news which it broadcasted on 28 november 2011, it gave a report of a survey which they made.
Reporters of radio okapi discovered more fictional voting offices. They made this survey to check what was being said by members of the opposition parties in DR Congo.
The opposition leaders blamed the National Independent Electoral Commission saying that, the electoral commission works alongside the present congolese political leaders on power to prepare cheating on the elections of November 28th 2011.
Reporters of Radio Okapi have done a survey straight away after the electoral commission has published the voting offices, once on the field reporters discovered some none existant offices which they called afterword fictional offices.
These offices are located in schools which have stopped to exist long time ago, others located in schools but when counting the number of classes; they found that the number of offices are beyond the number of classes. Many other fictional offices were found in places where people were not living, others in places where even a moto bike cannot arrive. There was even offices found in houses belonging to people who are in the leading political parties. All this was qualified as fraude.
This news was reported on Radio Okapi on 24th November 2011. The same day Radio Okapi has interviewed Pastor Ngoy Mulunda, the president of the ‘’Commission Electoral Indepandante’’, about the made discoveries of the fictional offices.
Ngoy Mulunda responded by saying : ‘’ I am a pastor and being a man of God I am not supposed to do or encorage any cheating. The choice of word fictional offices is a bad choise, instead of saying fictional offices, people would say about offices which are badly placed’’.
Being asked how he would solve that problem of what himself named calls badly placed offices, he said that : “the independent electoral commission will build shitings where there is no houses, in schools where the classes do not fit with the number of the classes shiting will be build as well, all other places where offices have been badly placed the electoral commussion will correct the mistakes’’.
Pastor Ngoy Mulunda finished by saying that the congolese need to trust the work which he is doing and that no cheating will not have a place in these elections. For he is the man of God.
Despite what Ngoy Mulunda said, the opposition leaders such as Etienne Tchisekedi Wa Mulumba, Valentin Mubake , Vital Kamerher did not really trust the electoral commission. And said that all blood shed in the country which might arrive will be over him.
After the elections being done and during the compilation of voices of the elected candidates, MLC blamed violence being done over witnesses of the opposition and MLC has as well reported more attempt of cheating in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, in two Kasaï, Kindu, Katanga and many other locations. All these blame went to the army, police and members of some ruling political parties on power, to the electoral commission as well. MLC condemned as well the vilance of soldiers and they said as well about forms which were introduced secretely by people who were highly corrupted on the benefit of people on power. Vital Kamerhe from UNC made the same blame as well.
On 9th November 2011 when the electoral commission published, Joseph Kabila as a winer of the elections. Etienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba, the key opposition leader was the first to react against the given result of elections by Pastor Ngoy Mulunda. He condemned Joseph Kabila to prepare cheating ahead of time coworking with Ngoy Mulunda. Kengo wa Dondo, Nzanga Mobutu said that the electoral commission has cheated for the benefit of Joseph Kabila. Both Kengo and Nzanga are on the side of Tchisekedi now, they are saying that it is Tchisekedi who won elections.
In an interview on 9 November 2011, Etienne Tchisekedi had an interview with ‘’Radio France Internationale’’ in this interview he said : “I am very sorry with the result given by the electoral commission which publishes Joseph Kabila as a winner in these elections. I qualify these result as being a provocation made by Pastor Ngoy Wa Mulunda; we reject this provocation with all energy and shall not agree with Josepk Kabila to rule over the DR Congo. I won these elections and now I am the president of Congo. The proof of result compiled by members of my political party represented in the whole country, shows that in different centers in the whole country Joseph Kabila lost elections. And that I am the one who won when one checks reports which are from different electoral offices. I condemn the fact that soldiers and police invaded more offices and encouraged cheating on the benefit of Joseph Kabila.”
Being asked if he would introduce a case to the supreme court , Tchisekedi said : “there is no supreme court in DR Congo, the so called supreme court is only the private institution of Joseph Kabila. I can not take this case to his private institution. It is not legal people know who they voted for and they ready to claim the right of their elected president to be on power.”
Being asked if he would invite congolese to revolt themselves or to public disobedience by going on street he said: “I call all congolese to keep their peace and do not do any revolt, they should not go on street until when I call them for a public disobedience. Roads of Congo are buzy with Kabila’s police and soldiers if people go on street they will be killed by Joseph Kabila soldiers. I Tchisekedi I do not acknowledge Joseph Kabila as a president. His victory in these elections is due to Kabila cheating. I call the international opinion to help solve the Congo problem as soon as possible before it is too late’’.
Etienne Tchisekedi invites the international opinion to help Congo get Joseph Kabila out of power before blood of innocent Congolese is shed. He refused any kind of negotiation with Joseph Kabila, because, according to him, Joseph Kabila was not elected. He said that Kabila ended being the president over Congo on the 06 december 2011.
Vital Kamerhe who hold the third position declared that it is Etienne Tchisekedi who won elections. There has been more fraud caused by the electoral commission declaration of Vital Kamerhe. According to Kamerhe the electoral commission had problem to give the exact number of people who voted in each office and each center.
It only gave a big picture which does not reflect the reality. These declaration was made by Kamerhe on BBC on 10th December. On 7th December after the electoral commission delayed to give the result. He asked the wise president of Africa and the international community to interfere in bringing solution to the cheating of elections which would result into bloodshed in the DR Congo. He insisted by saying that this needs to be done before it is too late.
Evarist Boshabe, the speaker of parliament and the general secretary of PPRD, the political party of Joseph Kabila, did not keep quiet on the comment of Etienne Tchisekedi and vital Kamerhe. In an interview with Radio France Internationale on 10th December 2011. He said that the job done by the electoral commission is fair and transparent, the opposition should not blame the electoral commission for having done it’s job. In all elections there is always a winner and a looser. Tchisekedi need to accept his failure, Evarist Boshabe said.
Being asked about the challenges of the electoral commission office to prove transparency about the exact number of the people who voted par offices and par centers in the whole country by making clear the exact statistics of people who voted and those who did not.
Evarist Boshabe replied: “the electoral commission has evailed CDs, and books of all results by center and par office in the whole country. It has as well published the result of elections on it’s website, whoever is does not agree with these result can travel to all corners and ask witness of his political party on the field and ask obsevers as well, if one is not able he can call people on the field”.
After the publications elections to Joseph Kabila as a winner on elections, there was not as more joy as it was in 2006 elections, towns were quiet but we could observe only very few people rejoicing on the street.
The government increased the number of the police and the army in all corners of the country to increase security and make sure that there is no demonstration due to the fact of refusing results. What is written here was reported on more radios of the DR Congo such RTNC, Radio Okapi, Radio Digital Congo and other radios including different television of DR Congo.
It was reported in Kinshasa violence between the police and some demonstrators who burned tires in roads.
Radio okapi reported as well more gun shooting in Limete-Kinshasa around the residence of Etienne Tchisekedi. There was fear as well in many of the Congolese towns after election. No one was sure about what would happen. More are expected violence to be done.
Fortunately, most of corners of the DR Congo was quiet and peaceful. Except in Kinshasa where it was reported on 11 december violence and Lubumbashi as well. In those places people are now living in fear.
Thousand more of people flee outside DR Congo and went to Congo Brazaville, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganga for the fear of a violence which might arrive.
by Rostand Mana, DR Congo
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