Election in the DRC: What exit for the chaos organized by Denis Kadima?

Denis Kadima, the president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Ceni) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was imposed on this position by the will of his friend President Félix Tshisekedi.

”More than ten years of experience supporting elections in Africa. A true expert, explained again this Sunday one of his colleagues, who added: “This gentleman has always presented himself as the herald of democracy in Africa. Today, Denis Kadima is responsible for one of the worst chaos ever orchestrated. If the cheating he developed allows Félix Tshisekedi to settle into power. Not only is it a terrible step backwards but also the end of many democratic hopes for the DRC”.

Break the Constitution

Since December 20, the day set for the holding of the presidential election, Denis Kadima has reigned supreme over the organization of a vote which was in fact nothing more than an immense staging whose sole objective was the perpetuation of his friend at the head of state and, in the process, the construction of a large parliamentary majority which should offer the President of the Republic the possibility of quickly modifying the Constitution. With a double objective: to set up an indirect election of the head of state by parliamentarians and, at the same time, a transition from the five-year term to the seven-year term. A modification of the Constitution which should reset the counters to zero and thus allow the outgoing head of state, who will have reached the constitutional limit of two mandates, to stand for two seven-year terms with a well-paid parliamentary class, which is his right. and accountable. The current salary of $21,000 for the Congolese national deputy, already one of the highest in the world, could rise to more than $30,000 under the next legislature.

To achieve their goals, the Kadima – Tshisekedi duo therefore organized a “Canada Dry” vote on December 20 (and the following days). At first glance, we are in an electoral context, the campaign took place without major problems and the voters have been summoned. Beyond these signals, bartender Denis Kadima entered the scene to concoct a cocktail for which only he had the recipe. Electoral files not audited by the international community, uncontrollable voter cards, untraceable mapping of polling stations, random opening of polling stations, extension of voting days, countless voting machines in the hands of members of the majority. These voting machines are the exclusive property of Denis Kadima’s Ceni. Without forgetting, for the presidential election, the absence of compilation of paper ballots and therefore the obligation to rely on electronic data from voting machines.

The outdated bishops

The Catholic bishops have requested the publication of voting results office by office so that voters can be certain that the results given by the Ceni are credible.

In the DRC, no one dares to speak, as was still done in 2019, about the truth of the ballot boxes, because no one is unaware that this quantified truth no longer exists. The paper vote which had to be taken into account was completely eclipsed in favor of an electronic jam which could only possibly be detected by… attentive and courageous computer experts.

DR Congo: Tshisekedi relaunches debate on his “victory” in the 2018 presidential election

Denis Kadima, through the level of orchestrated fraud, took all serious observers by surprise who expected a real election to take place. What emerged in Congo was a deception designed by an electoral expert who knew all the checkpoints and who circumvented them all.

The concern is that such massive fraud (without losing sight of the 11,000 polling stations which simply did not open, representing approximately 7 million “forgotten” voters) has not gone unnoticed. Hundreds of cases of voting machines ending up in the hands of regime dignitaries have been observed, documented and widely disseminated. To try to put out this fire, bartender Kadima brought out a new ingredient: invalidation. A small dose (81 candidates) supposed to demonstrate its determination to organize a real election which should above all allow the President of the Republic to regain a legitimacy which he has not had since 2019, he who was co-opted by Joseph Kabila.

New concern, how to explain that the legislative ballots are invalidated without affecting the presidential level?

UDPS: The people, the party or friends first?

Denis Kadima’s Ceni doesn’t care. Its mission is to impose Tshisekedi and give him a large majority. The opposition can shout, but so far it has no means of institutional pressure. The Ceni is under Kadima’s orders, the Constitutional Court responsible for examining appeals is mainly made up of government cronies. All that remains is popular disobedience. The international community continues to observe with benevolence this organized chaos, which carries all the risks of violence and all the dictatorial excesses. Some, even in Belgium, like this Minister of State, did not wait for confirmation of Félix Tshisekedi’s victory to congratulate him, welcoming “the peaceful nature of the campaign and the smooth running of the campaign”.

What way out of the crisis?

This Monday, the Constitutional Court could, despite this incredible chaos, confirm Tshisekedi’s victory. The DRC will once again plunge into the unknown with a political class not only largely idle but also shattered by a lack of voting which will explode discontent and risks pushing a number of frustrated candidates towards extremist movements.

DRCongo: where is Tshisekedi leading Congo?

The paths out of the crisis are very complicated with a presidency that has corrupted the democratic game, exhausted the texts of laws, corrupted and ethnicized the actors. Since he emancipated himself from Kabila supervision, Tshisekedi has imposed his power through non-respect of the laws, he has relied on the Constitution and ignored the rare warnings sent to him and until now , he won his case. He has elevated cynicism and corruption into the driving force behind a self-confident and increasingly tyrannical power.