29 November 2011
Election observers and voters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo claim access to polling stations has been restricted.
Irregularities in Goma
Even before the voting stations opened at 6am, long queues of anxious voters had already formed. Musubao Muhindo, a man in his sixties who came to vote at the Faraja voting station in Goma, explains: “It’s a historical moment for us because we can now vote freely, unlike during the reign of Mobutu when we were forced to vote for him.”
Kayetele Arajabu, another voter, adds: “We came here to elect our representatives. It is important for us and for the restoration of peace in our country.”
Yet, numerous irregularities and disturbances have been reported in various voting stations. In the region’s largest voting centre located in the Ndosho neighbourhood in Goma, police fired warning shots to disperse the angry crowd. Local people went after the head of the voting station, who was accused of secretly filling in ballot papers.
Incomplete electoral lists in Masisi
In Sake and Matanda, in the Masisi region, many voters could not find their names on the electoral roll posted in front of voting stations by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), raising concerns some voters might not be able to exercise their voting rights.
According to the chief of the Kamuronza community in Sake, Mwami Bauma Bitsibu, “CENI did not provide clear enough instructions to the voters about how to find their names on the electoral roll.”
Just three hours before the polling stations were due to close, a large number of registered voters still had to cast their votes.
Transparency
Doubts over the transparency of the polls were also raised as numerous illiterate voters were accompanied into the polling booth by observers from various political parties.
Numerous other observers were denied entry into the voting stations. “We’ve been here since daybreak but we were not allowed to enter. How are we supposed to testify of the credibility of these elections?”, one of the observers wondered.
In the Mushaki voting centre, in Masisi, most of the observers, who were members of the armed forces, tried to influence the voters’ choices. “Sometimes we were forced into voting for certain candidates,” explains a voter who wished to remain anonymous. Another voter travelled more than 10km to cast his vote. “Most of the voting stations are located in remote and inaccessible areas,” he laments.
Chaos in Kinshasa
Elections in the DRC have been extended until Tuesday in those polling stations which opened too late or did not open at all. Material such as the ink needed for thumprints did not arrive in time.
The first day of elections was thrown into chaos due to logitstical problems. Polling stations suddenly moved without warning, people could not find their names on the voting lists and some polling stations ran out of ballot papers.
All this logistic chaos caused anger and confusion. A lot of people just went home, without voting. People also started fights over suspicions of fraud. In one polling station a man was nearly lynched by the mob, because he pretended to be an observer.
Today emergency meetings are being held by CENI, the organisation responsible for the elections in Congo. There are rumours that the elections will be cancelled due to these major logistic problems. When asked to comment late yesterday evening, CENI said there were some problems, but the elections were still transparent and credible.
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