The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is facing a political crisis after the disputed presidential election on December 20, 2023. The provisional results show President Felix Tshisekedi with a commanding lead, but his opponents and independent observers have raised serious concerns about the integrity of the vote.
A Flawed Process
The joint vote-monitoring mission of Congo’s powerful Catholic Church and its Protestant Church reported numerous irregularities that marred the election. The mission deployed thousands of observers across the country and said it received 5,402 reports of incidents at polling stations, over 60% of which interrupted voting.
It also questioned the legality of the decision by the CENI election commission to extend some voting beyond December 20 and reported that voting was not wrapped up fully until December 27. The mission said it documented “numerous irregularities likely to affect the integrity of the results”.
Another local civil society observer mission, Symocel, wrote a letter to the CENI on December 26 to flag reports from several provinces of CENI agents mishandling sensitive election materials and conducting election operations outside official centers. According to a report by Reuters , Symocel said the rate of this phenomenon was so high and could irreversibly distort the results of the elections.
A Rejected Outcome
The opposition has rejected the provisional results and demanded a rerun of the election, citing widespread fraud and manipulation. Moise Katumbi, one of Tshisekedi’s main challengers, asserted that state institutions were committed to tipping the vote in the president’s favor and ruled out using legal channels to contest the results. The CENI denies this.
Katumbi and other opposition heavyweights have called for a re-run, but the government has refused to entertain this option. Government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya dismissed Katumbi’s threat to hold further protests across the country, after police forcibly broke up a banned election march on Wednesday.
The dispute threatens to further destabilize Congo, which is already grappling with a security crisis in eastern areas. Congo is the world’s top producer of cobalt and other industrial minerals and metals.
The CENI is due to release further provisional presidential results ahead of a December 31 deadline. The latest showed Tshisekedi well-ahead of his 18 challengers, with just over 76% of around 12.5 million votes counted so far. The CENI has not yet said how many of Congo’s 44 million registered voters participated. It has so far processed the results of 46,422 polling stations out of 75,969, according to its latest tally.
The international community has urged calm and restraint from all parties and called for transparency and credibility in the electoral process. The African Union, the European Union, the United Nations and the United States have all issued statements expressing concern over the reported irregularities and appealing for dialogue and respect for the rule of law.
Despite the challenges and uncertainties, many Congolese hope that the election will pave the way for a peaceful and democratic transition of power in their country, which has never experienced one since independence in 1960.
Some civil society groups and religious leaders have called for a national dialogue and reconciliation to overcome the political divisions and heal the wounds of the past. They have also urged the people to remain vigilant and peaceful and to defend their rights and dignity.
While the world watches and waits for the final outcome of the election, the people of Congo hope that they will make their voices heard and shape their own bright future
