Just two weeks to the general election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) fifteen people were reportedly killed in eastern parts of the country in clashes between troops and rebels loyal to William Amuri Yakutumba, a former Congolese General opposed to President Joseph Kabilah. The fighting is continuing in Fizi, South Kivu, a mineral- rich province which is reportedly prone to ethnic tensions.
The unrest is another front in the push by rebels to oust Kabila from power as the poverty-stricken country limps towards a much-delayed presidential election stated from December 23rd this year. The Fizi region was the cradle of the rebellion by Laurent Desire Kabila, the father of the current president who ousted Mobutu Sese Seko in May 1997. The former Belgian colony has not seen a peaceful transition of power since independence in 1960.
The United States Embassy recently closed its doors to the public for six days reportedly saying that it had received “credible and specific information of a possible terrorist threat against U.S. government facilities in the capital, Kinshasa. Security forces of the country alongside the 17,000- strong United Nation Stabilisation Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) are daily battling violent militias and insurgencies. Attacks on aid workers by these groups are also exacerbating the fight against Ebola which is continuing to spread in a country which UNICEF says two million children are acutely malnourished thereby further complicating the situation ahead of the December 23rd election.
The 47-year-old Kabila’s second and final term in office ended nearly two years ago, but he has remained in office, thanks to a caretaker clause in the constitution. This sparked violent rallies in which dozens of protesters were killed. Under regional and international pressure amidst turmoil, Kabila on August 8 this year announced to the relief of his 78 million people that he will not seek office in the December election. The President, However, moved on to secure his political future and entrench the independence of Congo. He got the National parliament to pass a law granting immunity to former presidents for crimes committed while in office, and providing them permanent security detail and a residence at the expense of the state. He then packed the country’s bureaucracy, military and judiciary with his loyalists.
Kabila was elected president in 2001 at 29 in the Congo’s first democratic election eleven days after his father was assassinated by his own bodyguard. At his request the ruling People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), the common front for Congo Coalition (FCC). This biggest and most influential group, created the post of the president, which Kabila is expected to hold after leaving office. Kabila who will be senator-for-life, as per the constitution will also remain the FCC’S leader.
The Congolese president moved on to hand-pick his long time ally, Emmanuel Shadary as his successor. A former interior minister, Shadary has held several roles including permanent secretary of the ruling PPRD. The 57-year-old former interior minister is described on the ruling party’s website as “the man for difficult situations “. He is reportedly a hard-liner who is one of the 15 Congolese individuals under European Union (EU) sanctions, accused of human rights violations between December 2016- 2018. The EU and United States imposed a travel ban (denied visas) and financial sanctions (frozen assets) on Shadary in his role as Interior and Security minister for the hand he played in delaying the elections and brutally suppressing anti-government protests last year.
He is among the 21 candidate who registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) in the Congo last month and have been authorized by the court to run.
Shadary is part of Kabila’s plan to remain the power behind the throne and not have to fear any retribution from a hostile regime. The president is eligible to return in 2023 and compete for the presidency; he may have chosen Shadary to keep the presidential seat warm for him until he returns in 2023.
The Congo opposition has written the E.U Council to renew targeted sanctions against senior officials responsible for nearly four years of repression of those opposed to Kabila’s efforts to remain in office beyond the end of his constitutionally mandated years. Prickly about external intrusion in the internal affairs of the Congo, Kabila, drawing lessons from his 17years experience in power have rejected offers of advice, oversight, and election funding from abroad. He reportedly believes that the western powers are actually trying to gain a foothold in the Congo in order exploit its rich mineral resources for a pittance under the beguiling guise of helping her to stage a free, fair, and violent- free election. Apart from its oil resources, Congo is the world’s miner of cobalt and Africa’s leading copper producer worth trillions of dollars.
The president has rejected appointment by E.U. of special envoys to monitor the election on the grounds that “they behave like pro-consuls; they don’t respect the DRCs autonomy, we want to mark our sovereignty”, said the Congo communication Minister, Lambert Mende. The Electoral Commission has also said it is refusing help offered by the U.N Mission in Congo to use its helicopters and air-planes to ferry imported touch-screen voting machines to polling stations nationwide because it does not want their meddling. The government believes that the UN mission should focus on its mandate of protecting civilians and fighting rebel groups in the country, not supporting elections. And it has formally accused the E.U of interference in its upcoming presidential election by not heeding Kinshasa’s call to lift sanctions on Kabila’s hand-picked candidate. “By maintaining restrictive measures against Mr Shadary , a candidate in the democratic elections, the council has permitted itself to take a position in the internal democratic debate in Congo”, one of the government lawyers reportedly wrote.
Some observers of the Congo politics note that the opposition’s subscription to literally transferring of all electoral activities to the European Union at a time the government is pursuing an Independent policy, indicates their commitment to western values as well as their ignorance of interest of Congolese people and therefore already show-casing their incapacity to work in the national interest of the country.
Others observe that this policy shift of promoting opposition figures for presidential office could further exacerbate the security and humanitarian situation in the Congo on a regional scale. It could have the domino effect of triggering a coloured revolution reminiscent of the Arab spring in Central Africa.
Regardless of who is running, the election is dogged by legitimacy and security concerns. The Electoral commission has been accused of working closely with the government and plans to use electronic voting machines to fix the vote in favour of Shadary through hacking. Still the deeks are stacked in favour of Kabila’s designated successor with the failure of the opposition to back a candidate to face-off against him. Therefore the political trajectory in the face of unrest running in parallel with conflict in parts of the country, will probably be one of continuity and not change.
Usman wrote in from Kaduna.
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