“Behind the result of this BERCI poll, you can see the hand of Olivier Kamitatu,” Kabange added, targeting one of the founders of the consulting group and spokesperson for powerful businessman Moise Katumbi, a heavyweight barred from the election.
“BERCI and the CRG are trying ineptly to discredit Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary when on the ground, the very opposite has been observed by neutral and rigorous people,” Kabange said.
Shadary, a hardline former interior minister, was named candidate of the presidential majority after Kabila finally agreed to step down after 17 years in power and the postponement of the election from late 2016.
“This is ridiculous! I left BERCI almost 20 years ago. I don’t know anything about what is happening in BERCI,” responded Kamitatu, reached by telephone in Belgium, the former colonial power in the vast central African country.
The poll was carried out “from September 29 to October 15, 2018, among 1,179 people aged 18 and over, spread across the 26 provinces of the country,” according to the organisers