FROM TIME TO TIME, OUR PRINCIPAL CONTRIBUTORS, ALL NOW BACK HOME IN SPAIN, RECEIVE A LETTER OR ARTICLE FROM LONG TIME FRIENDS STILL IN THE DRC (OR AS THEY WRITE IT IN EUROPE, THE DR CONGO) THAT REFLECTS SOME ASPECT OF WHAT IS GOING ON THERE NOW BASED ON "THOSE WHO LIVED IT" EXPERIENCE. SO WE HAVE STARTED THIS SCREEN IN ORDER TO SHARE THE OCCASIONAL "BEST ONES" WITH YOU.
|
THE ELECTION RESULTS ARE NOW CONFIRMED
AFTER EXAMINATION OF THE ELECTION RETURNS BY THE CARTER CENTER (Their findings: The results had "serious credibility issues") AND BY THE AFRICAN UNION (Their findings: There were issues but not suffiicient to invalidate the results and repeat the election process)) JOSEPH KABILA, WHO HAD 49% OF THE VOTE, HAS BEEN SWORN IN FOR HIS SECOND TERM AS PRESIDENT. HIS PRINCIPAL RIVAL, ETIENNE TSHISEKEDI WHO HAD 32% OF THE VOTE DECLARED THE DECISION INVALID AND WAS PLANNING HIS OWN INAUGURATION AS PRESIDENT. (If you read this whole article, who will remember that a month before the elections took place, he had already declared himself President.) THE UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE, HILARY CLINTON, ISSUED A STATEMENT EXPRESSING DEEP DISAPPOINTMENT THAT THE SUPREME COURT OF THE DRC DID NOT INVESTIGATE MORE FULLY THE ELECTION RETURNS. THE QUESTION FOR THE COUNTRY: WILL THERE BE PEACE, OR WILL TSHISEKEDI ONCE AGAIN INSTIGATE VIOLENCE A HE HAS DONE IN THAT PAST?
Our featured
article: A HEATED CAMPAIGN IN THE DRC by
José Carlos Rodríguez Soto sent in by Father Julián Azcona, translated by B. Enwall
Introductory remarks (B. Enwall) (Photos from our book, THE CONGO EXPERIENCE: A History of the DRC/Zaire based on the experiences of those who lived it
Elections may be commonplace in some countries, but in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (for 30 years oncet known as Zaire) no one had been able to vote for forty years. Six years ago an election was held, and it evoked an amazing response, marked by campaign slogans and promises on bilingual posters, voter education seminars some of which were for women only, and a series of debates on Radio Okapi, each featuring three of the 34 presidential candidates. THE 2005-2006 ELECTION CAMPAIGNS
|
On ElectionDay all kinds of individuals showed up at the polls throughout the country, the UN flew in election ballots from outlying villages, there was a run-off election, and Joseph Kabila was elected president.
|
Now it is time for new elections. They were held on November 28 and it is hoped the ballots will have been counted by early January. The events leading up to the elections and the candidates are the topic of the article below.
|
A HEATED CAMPAIGN IN THE DRC by José Carlos Rodríguez Soto
José Carlos Rodríguez Soto was a Cobonian priest from Madrid who spent 20 years in northern Uganda, working with issues in sanitation, nutrition, education, the rescue of child soldiers and the negotiations with “The Lord’s Freedom Army”. He eventually left the priesthood. married a Ugandan nurse and continues working in and writing about Africa. This article he wrote from his current his current base in Goma, that trouble, wartorn eastern part of the DRC. Below is the first part of his article – the second part will be coming along soon, and will end in early January when (hopefully) the ballots will have been counted and the election results announced. "Since last October 28 we in the Congo are in an election campaign.
If you live here—which in my case is in the city of Goma – you know that whenever you go outside at any time of day you will find a endless stream of cars and trucks loaded with enthusiastic passengers displaying flags while music thunders full volume, competing with the noise of other vehicles and with messages that no one understands shouted out brashly through a megaphone. And you will also know that suddenly legions of workers begin repair on roads everywhere that have not seen a bulldozer at work. Twelve candidates are up for election, and another 18,000 compete for the 400 and some seats in the National Assembly. Both elections are to take place November 28, that is if the voting boxes and ballots arrive on time, something about which the opposition – as well as many diplomats—have serious doubts. China has not yet
delivered the 120,000 boxes promised and the ballots are still being prepared for printing in South Africa who took over that task. Naturally, once they arrive they will have to be distributed, not an easy task in a country that has too few passable roads. To organize elections in such a large country – the second largest (some sources say 3rd largest), a population of 56 million, and disastrous communication infrastructure, -- it’s not an easy task.
Nevertheless, the elections in 2006 proceeded extraordinarily well with few incidents, and that was the first time in 40 years that people had voted. But that time an Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) was headed by an exceptional man: Abby Malumalu, a young priest from Butembo who carried out his role with extreme competency and impartiality. The new CEI does not the same stature as the former one did and during the last four months there have been recurring friction among opposing parties and the CEI which has been accused of leaning too far towards the government’s party. Among the candidates for the presidency is the current head of state, Joseph Kabila, who has state resources for his campaign, as is customary throughout most of Africa, so many people without means receive gifts of all kinds, from t-shirts and caps to free parties or even money. I remember in 2006, my first time in the Congo, that Kabila was at the time very popular in the eastern part of the country, weary as it was of so much war and destruction, and he seemed to them as a good alternative to his opponent, Jean Pierre Bemba, today found guilty in the Hague for crimes against humanity. Today, however, Kabila has lost his popularity here where there seem to be no signs of any progress made these past five years, so he will not have as easy a time of it. His main bastion is the Katanga province where its powerful governor—owner of the Mazembe soccer team—is his loyal ally. “Curing himself while still
healthy,” Kabila changed the Constitution last year so that now whatever candidate wins a simple majority wins the elections without any need of a run-off election in which opposing parties could band together to support one of the run-off hopefuls."
|
FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT NOT HAVE THE HISTORICAL FACTS AT THEIR FINGERTIPS: Joseph Kabila's apparent popularity was somewhat surprising to some expert observers, for he is the son of Laurent Kabila, the dictator who followed the legendarily corrupt Mobutu, with the same policies but less skillfully deployed and was assassinated by one of his own bodyguards. Regarding Joseph Kabila's legislation about run-off elections, It might be noted that Kabila might have acted on a lesson from his own experience of that first election six years ago. A run-off election was held and at once violence broke out in Kinshasa between supporters of Kabila and the other front-runner, Jean Pierre Bemba. Bemba had been one of the 4 vice-presidents under earlier dictators and had also at one time been involved in the questionable Anglo-Ahsanti Gold mine operation under Njabu. Each group blamed the other for the outbreak and peace was restored by the UN and Europol forces. UN forces from Spain and Uruguay rescued diplomats trapped in Bemba’s home. In four days at the cost of 23 killed, 43 injured, peace was restored and the run-off election was underway. In spite of isolated incidents across the DRC, Bemba and rebel leader Laurent Nkunda repeatedly said they would respect the process. But when in mid-November the results showed Kabila ahead, Bemba rejected the results as fraudulent, thus releasing his supporters from any promise. The Carter Center and the South African observers again found the election process, if not perfect, credibly sound. The results: Joseph Kabila 58.05%, Jean-Pierre Bemba 41.95%. Bemba filed a complaint to the Supreme Court claiming irregularities. UN forces intervened when Bemba supporters set fire to the Courthouse where the matter was being decided in hearings boycotted by Bemba, the Court declared Bemba’s complaint “unfounded,” and for a time Kinshasa was quiet. Bemba finally announced he would accept the Court’s decision, and Joseph Kabila was sworn in December 6. As the first truly elected President who, unlike his predecessors, had allowed a multi-party election, this would seem a new beginning, were it not for the same old problems that refuse to go away. HOWEVER, after the election Bemba, having “freed” his supporters, and himself, from all promises to abide by the election results, set up his own military base in Kinshasa. In 2007 some 700 of his supporters fought with 2000 army troops because Bemba refused to integrate his militia into the army, the practice followed by other dissident groups as one step towards unification. It is unlikely that Kabila was too surprised. Even during the first round of elections in 2006 the television stations owned by Bemba had been airing “hate” messages that caused the UN some concern. The messages encouraged the Congolese to target white people and foreigners, implying that Joseph Kabila’s real backing, like his father’s, came from international sources. Foreigners were among the targets of the March, 2007 violence initiated by Bemba supporters. The Embassies of Spain and Greece as well as the UNICEF offices and the BIAC bank building were bombed. The home of Italy’s Ambassador was looted. Spain’s Ambassador Martínez commented, “It was clear that it was not a random attack.”
|
Casualty estimates ranged from 200 to 500 dead, mostly civilians, plus numerous instances of looting and rape. Bemba then threatened, after mounting this latest attack, that he would go into exile if Kabila did not guarantee him personal protection.
Kabila had taken one step to weaken Bemba. He appointed, as Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation, Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi, a candidate who got only 0.57% of the vote but whose forces had earlier fought against Laurent Kabila (Joseph’s father, later assassinated). Nyamwisi later routed Lumbala and Bemba forces and in the elections threw his support to Joseph Kabila.
The other serious threat to stability was General Laurent Nkunda, a Tutsi and Rwandan sympathizer who wore a button “Rebels for Christ." and for whom in 2004 an international arrest warrant had been issued for "his alleged atrocities against civilians.” He had taken his troops to North Kivu some years earlier and in October, 2008, threatening to topple newly elected Joseph Kabila, he launched an attack with 2000 troops on Goma, creating heavy casualties and displacing 200,000 persons. He caused, reported the UN, “a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic dimensions.”
|
Then President Kabila, or perhaps the nation, had a bit of good luck. In May, 2008, while visiting Brussels, Bemba was arrested for war crimes by the International Criminal Court where testimony was given by some child soldiers among others. Thomas Lubanga, yet another potential threat for violence, is similarly “otherwise engaged” and on trial by the ICC, accused of similar crimes. So they have not been candidates in this election, but there are others who have long nursed political ambitions. More about them in about two weeks.
THE ELECTIONS IN 2011 To understand part of the
turbulence of the 2011-2012 elections one must briefly glance at the political history of Kabila’s main rival, Etienne Tshisekedi. Going
back twenty years, among President Mobutu’s maneuverings was the juggling of
Prime Ministers. In 1991 he named Etienne
Tshisekedi of a Kasai (eastern DRC, diamond country) opposition party to the
post, displacing Mulumba Lukoji, but Tshisekedi’s own party protested the move
so Tshisekedi later declined. Mobutu
re-named Mulumba Lukoji to the post until December when his former opponent,
Jean Nguza Karl i Bond, became Prime Minister, the man whom Mobutu had earlier
condemned to wear a chain for life. But
in August, 1992, Tshisekedi would regain
the post. And so it went.
In
1993, Father Julian Azcona wrote, “In Kinshasa there are two government
theoretically, the [Mobutu-appointed] Birindwa government and the
Tshisekedi. The dictator always,
Mobutu. And the Catholic Bishop,
Monseignor Monsengwo, President of the Supreme Council of the Republic with
attributes of chief of state. Two
Constitutions are in force, that of Mobutu and that of the National
Conference. Some officials are poorly
paid, their salary up to 12 months in arrears.
“
In
April of 1994 the genocide began in Rwanda and the violence would spread to all
of DRC/Zaire, create vast refugee camps, last for years, and dethrone Mobutu. One final
manuever that Mobutu attempted was to install his rival, Etienne Tshisekedi,
as Prime Minister in April. Laurents Kabilam
longtime opponent of Mobutu and father of Joseph Kabila, whose forces had already seized Mobutu's personal gold mine and were threatening eastern Kasai, where
diamond production was valued at £200 million a year, sent word to Tshisekedi
that Mobutu’s government was irrelevant now and, should Tshisekedi accept the
post Mobutu was offering, he would have no role in the new government. Tshisekedi, no doubt sensing he was being used
as a pawn by both, declined. He was not
wrong. Kabila later as President not
only rejected the notion of Tshisekedi as his Prime Minister
but ordered demonstrations for Tshisekedi to be broken up.
Twelve
years later, after the assassination of Laurent Kabila by one of his bodyguards, the intervention of the
UN, and at last the first real elections in 40 years, Tshisekedi, the longtime
politician from both Mobutu and Kabila days, cried fraud and boycotted the
polls. On May 31, when a possible delay
in the elections was announced, there was a major demonstration in Kinshasa. Tshisekedi supporters, in an attempt to prevent the elections
being held, burned polling stations and voting materials in East Kasai on the
Sunday before the vote began.
But on July 29, on schedule and with comparative
calm, the 50,000 polling stations opened and 70-80% (reports vary) of the
voters, ± 18,000,000 Congolese, got to the polls and voted on the 34
candidates. Joseph Kabila got 44.8% of
the votes, his next closest rival, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, 20.03%, Antoine
Gizenga, 13.2%, 3 others candidates got from 1-4%, and the remainder all got
less than 1% of the vote. Tshisekedi,
who had boycotted the elections, was not on the ballot.
Because
no candidate had a clear majority, a run-off election was to be held in
October. At once violence broke out in
Kinshasa between supporters of Bemba and supporters of Kabila, each blaming the
other for starting it. UN forces from
Spain and Uruguay rescued diplomats trapped in Bemba’s home, then were joined
by Europol forces. In four days at the
cost of 23 killed, 43 injured,
peace was restored and the run-off election between Bemba and Joseph Kabila was
held.
That
was six years ago, and the time for new elections has arrived. To continue the article by José Carlos Rodríguez Soto:
“Among the opposition
candidates [to incumbent Joseph Kabila] emerged the very veteran Ethienne
Thisekedi, scourge of Mobutu in the final years of 80 and the first part of the
90’s even though that gentleman is now almost 80 years old. It is said that other candidates, largely
unknown, have been”planted” by the government to divide the opposition more and
assure a Kabila victory. In the eastern region,
the most popular seems to be Vital Kamerhe, an old friend and ally of Kabila
and a former president of the national Assembly, a position from which he
resigned when he openly opposed the agreement between Kabila and Rwandan
President Paul Kamage in 2009, an agreement that allowed the Rwandan army to
enter to Congo in order to fight Hutu rebels.
Many believe that this agreement included secret clauses that would
insure the Rwanda continued to meddle in the Congo’s internal affairs and could
continue to take a slice of the mineral wealth of this country, especially
coltan.
Scarcely had the campaign begun when
worrisome incidents of violence broke out, especially in the city of Mbuyi Maji
in Eastern Kasai, the zone were Etienne Thisekedi has the most followers, where
the day there was one death after police dispersed, with firearms, a
demonstration by the opposition. In the
rest of the country it seems the situation is calmer, although the tension is
palpable and one can only hope that the campaign, the elections, and the
recount occur as peacefully as possible in this country that is still trying to
lift its head.”
In November, well before
the elections were to take place, Thisekedi, determined at long last to head
the nation, declared them invalid and declared himself President. In spite of this, in December the elections
did take place and the results are not yet determined. The ballots were counted, Joseph Kabila was
declared the winner and, predictably, his opponents
rejected the results on grounds of alleged fraud. Etienne Tshisekedi has charged the election
was rigged in Kabila’s favor and continues to declare himself President.
The current status: international help has been requested. The U.S.-based National Democratic Institute
and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems say they have dispatched
a team to Congo at the request of politicians there. The foreign election experts have now arrived
in the Democratic Republic of Congo to discuss a possible review of disputed
November polls. They began
meeting with Congolese officials on Thursday in the capital, Kinshasa. A
statement says the team will study electoral documents and data, and will speak
with key officials to determine whether a broader review could verify the
results. The election experts are
expected to be in DRC for about three weeks. Kenneth
Wollack, chief of the National Democratic Institute, cautioned that the team's
goal is to study the usefulness of a broader review, not to help Congolese
authorities tabulate the results of the legislative polls. The country and world is waiting.
|
|
|
