Regional
DRC: Why Tshisekedi will do anything to postpone elections
Ahead
of presidential elections scheduled for December 2023 in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, incumbent President Félix Tshisekedi has consistently declared
that the elections may be postponed.
The security
crisis in eastern DRC became his pretext in claiming that the country is not ready
to hold free and fair elections. Postponing the polls is a sure deal in his
plans to buy time for plotting how to fraud the next elections just like was
the case in 2018.
Despite
criticism from
Congolese and the International community, Tshisekedi remains indifferent. During
a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on March 4, the
Congolese President raised a complaint again, saying that the electoral
calendar will be affected by ongoing hostilities in the east, as if the armed
conflicts there are not his fault.
His
opposition including Martin Fayulu have accused the electoral commission (CENI)
of creating more voting centers in some provinces than usual, as well as
registering thousands of ghost voters.
In provinces
where Tshisekedi has no popularity, CENI is delaying voter enrollment.
Only
52 per cent of forecast voters were registered while over 50 million voters are
expected to be registered by March 17. CENI said an unspecified number of
voting centers in the first registration zone of 10 provinces including
Kinshasa had missed an interim deadline.
As
by end of February, 24 centers in Kinshasa and an unspecified number of centers
in Mai Ndombe province had not opened because of allegedly security issues. These
provinces are not located in the volatile east of DRC.
"There
are centers that existed in the electoral commission's map that are not open
and others that are open when they should not be,” Fayulu told the media, adding
that CENI is "organizing electoral chaos to prepare for fraud."
This
opposition candidate came second in the 2018 election after fraud in results
that declared Tshisekedi a winner. Sources in Kinshasa revealed that Tshisekedi
lost the elections, emerging third after Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary and Faluyu
who is said to have been the president-elect.
The
plot to rig was engineered by former president, Joseph Kabila, and his inner
circle.
Their
aim was that Tshisekedi rules for one term and Kabila returns for another term.
However, the deal ended when Tshisekedi betrayed
Kabila.
Tshisekedi
is now citing a number of reasons for postponing the elections, with insecurity
on top. Like shooting himself in the foot, the president who is looking for a second
term goes on alleging that Rwanda is causing chaos in his country by supporting
the M23 rebels. But the international community is gradually becoming aware of
his true colors and calling a spade a spade.
“Since
1994, you have never been able to restore the military, security or
administrative sovereignty of your country. It's a reality. We must not look for
culprits outside,” Macron declared in his recent visit in Kinshasa.
· Read: Macron’s bitter truth exposed Tshisekedi’s weaknesses
Knowing
that he won’t win hearts and minds of Congolese with no single positive
achievement since he assumed office in 2019, Tshisekedi has opted to overseeing
massacres of Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, hence complaining that insecurity
won’t allow the country to hold elections.
Tshisekedi
is also repressing his opposition candidates including Moïse Katumbi whose
passport was confiscated by Congolese intelligence agency, and Jean Marc Kabund
who was arrested in Kinshasa.
With
more than $400 million given by the Ministry of Finance to organize elections,
since October 2022, CENI has received no funds for operations, as CENI
president, Denis Kadima, announced to the local media.
Time
uncovers the truth, they say. Tshisekedi never invested in improving the
welfare of the Congolese. He, therefore, has nothing to show them so that they can
vote for him.
The
world has started unmasking his lies especially when he blames Rwanda for his
failures, and these lies will no longer work.
His remaining
option is to postpone the elections.
But,
should the Congolese allow to be duped again? Only time will tell.