Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi in mid-August extended the state of siege in Ituri and North Kivu provinces until August 31 in an attempt, allegedly, to restore order in the volatile eastern region of his country.

 

This came after an August 14-16 meeting in Kinshasa where top Congolese politicians considered three major things including maintaining the state of siege or lifting it. According to reports, the participants who proposed lifting the state of siege were sent out.

 

The state of siege, where military authority replaced civil rule, was put in place in May 2021 with an aim of fighting armed groups. Since then, the civilian administration has been substituted by the military which now holds power in both North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

 

In June 2022, the Democratic Republic of Congo published a new law on the organization of presidential elections with the aim of building a real electoral system which is democratic, stable, and rule-based.

 

With this law, Congolese people hoped to hold free and fair elections in December 2023, as they thought it responded to the concern on weaknesses of ballot organization.

 

The ambition of this law was more specifically to address practical issues found out during the controversial 2018 elections from which Tshisekedi was declared winner despite the fact that his opponent Martin Fayulu was the real president elect.

 

The Congolese’s hope is no more. Amending electoral law now looks like flogging a dead horse.

 

The Congolese desire is to see a transparent and fair electoral system to avoid recurrent political catastrophes. But this will not happen especially because Tshisekedi is busy pulling all strings to stay in power.

 

The Constitution of the DRC stipulates that a state of siege is characterized as an extraordinary and short-term action which can be proclaimed for an initial phase of 30 days; in case parliament validates an elongation, it has the potential to be extended for a consecutive periods of 15 days.

 

Tshisekedi contradicts the DRC’s constitution which he is supposed to secure.

 

Tshisekedi justifies the state of siege as a way of establishing order within the two provinces.

 

However, things deteriorated from the beginning. Armed groups are killing civilians and collaborate with the Congolese army in looting.

 

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in DRC, Bintou Keita, noted that the period of the state of siege saw a 10 per cent increase in the number of violations and abuses of human rights in the country.

 

No matter what justifications, Tshisekedi’s aim is only to delay the presidential elections, hence get a transitional term to plan enough for frauding the next polls. How can civilians feel free to vote the president of their choice while they are under military control?

 

Tshisekedi is very sure that he cannot win votes from eastern DRC as he did nothing to stop the violence there which led to thousands being killed and millions others displaced.

 

By extending the  state of siege, Congolese living in Ituri and North Kivu provinces are threatened and will not be able to vote a president of their choice as provided by law. Tshisekedi is, in so doing, using these eastern DRC provinces as a sacrificial lamb.

 

The military authorities appointed by Tshisekedi have been utilizing their powers during the state of siege to consistently restrict human rights through the persecution and imprisonment of journalists and the targeting of human rights defenders as well as political activists.