While the CENI has started its voter registration operations, it is facing blockages in North Kivu, where the population does not want, for the moment, to hear about the elections of next December.
At the end of 2018, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Independent National Electoral Commission (Céni) announced its decision to postpone the presidential, legislative and provincial elections in several constituencies in North Kivu. At issue: the persistence of the Ebola virus in the region and deadly incidents. The inhabitants of North Kivu then protested against the decision of the Ceni. Presidential candidate, Martin Fayulu had denounced "an umpteenth strategy to divert the truth from the ballot box".
Five years later, while the Ceni prepares the presidential election next December, a postponement could once again be mentioned. But this time, the anger of the inhabitants of North Kivu is no longer the same: the Independent National Electoral Commission is indeed beginning today the registration operations for voters in the region. Problem: to do this, it must carry out census operations in the displacement areas of North Kivu. However, on the spot, it is confronted with a certain opposition.
The displaced want political acts
Because the situation on the ground is worrying: the M23 rebel group has been making steady progress for a year. This caused many displacements. More than half a million people would be affected by the population movements. For several months, the CENI has been thinking about a method to pursue its mission. "Those who are in the camps will be identified in relation to their residences of origin", explained the instance last December. Adding that the displaced voters would vote in their camp but that their votes would be counted in their constituency of origin.
Despite the foresight of the Ceni in this case, the civil societies of Nyiragongo, Rutshuru and Masisi claim to want to prevent the census. For them, the priority is the end of the conflict. “We expect the government to put the means to end this war. Voting today is not our priority and if the CENI persists, we will take our responsibilities,” warns Jean-Claude Bambanze, the president of civil society in Rutshuru. In other words, we must manage the crisis before thinking about the elections.
A possible blocking of the operations of the CENI would jeopardize the electoral calendar. Isn't this moreover a desire on the part of the opposition? Martin Fayulu, last October, felt that it was necessary to "review the electoral law and re-examine the composition of the Ceni and the Constitutional Court" before considering the organization of the elections. The opponent then said he was in favor of postponing the elections.
A postponement requested by the churches
Same story on the side of the very influential Catholic churches in the DRC. These recommend the extension of the duration of enrollments and, consequently, the postponement of the elections. In January, the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (Cenco) and the Church of Christ in Congo (ECC) published a report in which they point to numerous irregularities. "For example, there is the fact that offices are listed in the map but these do not exist on the ground," lamented an observer.
“The Ceni should quickly take the measure of the thing if we want to save the process. In order not to have a slide, we must already learn the lessons of this first operational area”, indicated then the Reverend Eric Nsenga Nshimba, Secretary General of the ECC. The census in a new area, that of North Kivu, affected by the war, shows that the difficulties will be more and more numerous. What cause, de facto, an electoral postponement?