2023-12-20 07:02:01
KINSASA, Congo (AP) — The Democratic Republic of the Congo elected a president Wednesday as authorities tried to finalize preparations for an election marked by logistical and security challenges. But an hour and a half following the scheduled opening of polls, people in the capital were still waiting to vote.
Some 44 million people — nearly half the population — were expected to vote, but many, including millions of people displaced by conflict in the country’s vast east, may have trouble doing so. The fighting has prevented 1.5 million people from registering to vote.
Voter Raymond Yuma, in the capital, Kinshasa, said he was voting for hope. “When you get up in the morning you expect good things, good work, and I want security,” Yuma said, sitting on a bench with three other people as they waited for the doors to open. None of his voting cards were legible.
In the east of the country, people said they mightn’t find their names on voter lists.
“The voters shown on the list at the police station are less than those who are standing in line. I can’t find my name on the list, and this might cause altercations here because I also want to vote,” said Jules Kambale at a voting center in Goma.
As the delay lengthened, people began to become agitated and argue, especially in the capital.
Both outside and local observers have warned of problems that might undermine the credibility of the vote in one of Africa’s largest countries, whose mineral resources are increasingly crucial to the global economy.
On the eve of the vote, some voting centers in Kinshasa told Associated Press reporters that they were still waiting to receive materials. Thousands of centers, especially in remote areas, might still be without the necessary material on Wednesday.
A major concern was that the ink on the voting cards has deteriorated and many are illegible. That meant some people might be turned away at voting centers. Additionally, voter registration had not passed a proper audit.
“The organization of the elections raises many questions regarding the credibility, transparency and reliability of the results,” said Bienvenu Matumo, a member of LUCHA, a local rights group.
The winner needs a majority of votes to win in the first round.
The president, Felix Tshisekedi, was seeking his second 5-year term and was competing with 20 other candidates. His main rival appeared to be Moise Katumbi, the former governor of Katanga province and a billionaire businessman who saw his 2018 campaign thwarted by the previous regime of President Joseph Kabila.
But the opposition remained divided, making Tshisekedi the likely favorite.
The president, son of a popular and deceased opposition leader, dedicated a good part of his presidency trying to consolidate power in state institutions and trying to overcome a crisis of legitimacy due to the questioned elections five years ago.
The electoral commission said it has made changes to the process to gain credibility and has dedicated more than $1 billion to the vote since it began planning for it two years ago. A major change from 2018 was that results from each of the 75,000 voting centers would be published one at a time, rather than just the total.
But given the logistical challenges, residents and analysts estimated the process would likely stretch beyond Wednesday.
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Associated Press writers Mosa’ab Elshamy in Kinshasa and Ruth Alonga in Goma contributed to this report.
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