DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Has suffered through a harsh past of dictatorship and a very recent civil war. The war officially ended in 2003, but armed conflict still rages in several parts of the country. DRC comprises a territory that is roughly the size of Western Europe that contains little or no infrastructure. Local Partner Organization: COJESKI-RDC (Collectif des Organisations des Jeunes Solidaires du Congo-Kinshasa), a national network with 340 local chapters throughout DRC, with special consultancy status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the African Union (AU). Local Coordinators: Fernandez Murhola, National Coordinator Maitre Christian Bulambu, National Vice-Coordinator Henri Lukula, Secretary General Useni Fataki, Electoral Observer Program Guy Kajemba, Provincial Coordinator

ACTIVITIES SUMMARY:

SPECIAL NOTE: Our field test in DRC was timed to coincide with the National Referendum for a New (Post-War) Constitution, the first democratic event in the country in 40 years, scheduled for December 18, 2005. The purpose here was not to hold our own voting activities, but rather to observe the establishment of brand new democratic institutions.

TEST 1: Can a vote be held in a society that has been devastated by war?

An ominous presence of UN and many military aircraft at the airport and a general nervousness amongst the soldiers in the reception hall made us feel the tension as soon as we touched the ground. We were greeted by a delegation from our host organization COJESKI by two waiting cars outside. We filmed our meeting and were speaking about the National Referendum on the Constitution when several members of the military police detained us and confiscated our equipment. While being questioned, automatic weapons were pointed at members of our group. After several hours and many phone calls to superiors, we were released with a string of strict warnings that we should watch our steps. Driving through Kinshasa, we observed a country that has been destroyed at all social levels. As a striking example, the former Medical Collage has become a burned-out shell. We arrived at the headquarters of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). The building was surrounded by high barbed-wire fences and protected by a contingent of tense military police in riot-gear. There were rows of people lined up outside, eager and agitated to get their hands on a copy of the Constitution. Occasionally armed guards stuffed copies of the document through the gate or threw piles of them over the high fence. We got accredited inside and as I placed the laminated observer badge around my neck, it seemed impossible that this country can hold a national poll tomorrow.

TEST 2: Can a vote be held in a country that has little or no infrastructure?

December 18, 2005. The electoral colleges opened early in the morning and in the twilight, the deliberate motions of the staff, setting up voting booths and plastic urns, took on a dreamlike quality. Junior and Henri joined up with a group of international observers from the Spanish Embassy to cover central Kinshasa. Guy and other COJESKI observers spread into the outlying communities of the capital. We invested in numerous telephone cards, so that Maitre Christian and the COJESKI secretariat could communicate with their affiliated organizations in the provinces. We received information from a total of 2320 young, independent observers who reported back to us from every corner of the country. The national voting system has seen great investment from the international community. The registration process is high-tech. The bar-coded voter IDs are mandatory and contain a digital photograph and a digital fingerprint. We observed multiple mismatched and missing voter lists that prevented people from voting due to the complexity of the system. Clearly there are also serious deficiencies regarding registration and accessibility to voting stations throughout the territory. In Equateur and Bandundu provinces for instance, 297 registration centers never opened, disenfranchising all the people there. Reports told us of people walking over 20 km to cast their ballot. A number of electoral colleges and the related voting equipment were burned the night before the Referendum. Several parties and groups called for a direct boycott of the poll. This did seem to have an impact in some areas where attendance was noticeably low. Several people who were standing in the voter lines pleaded directly to our camera for a safer situation and in many occasions simply for food. It is hard to vote if you are starving, but the people of DRC were lining up to do just that. As the 17:00 closing time arrived, it became clear that not everybody had voted yet. A decision was made to extend the voting activities for a few hours. This brought about new challenges, especially in electoral colleges without electricity. Some of the last votes of the day were cast by candlelight.

December 19, 2005. There was talk that the turnout had been lower than expected. The IEC announced that the Referendum would be continued for one additional day, in an effort to allow for maximum participation. This decision brought up many question regarding consistency. We observed the some electoral collages had tallied their totals the first day but never reopened; others stayed open for both days and then counted the votes at the end; yet others took the ballots elsewhere to be tallied. In some voting centers, we observed activities grind to a halt due to the non-payment of salaries to the voting staff. Apart from payment, the voting staff also spoke to us candidly about the desperate need for food, reflecting the concern of everybody. Many more people did cast their ballots on this second day and the Referendum was concluded by nightfall. People waited for the results to be announced and an uncomfortable impatience hung in the air. As the night progressed, it became clear that there wouldn’t be an immediate announcement. Before midnight there was a total citywide power-cut in Kinshasa, which heightened the tension. As we waited in the blacked-out hotel room, bursts of automatic weapons fire erupted near our compound (that also included the National Radio Station). I was increasingly worried about our personal safety. Lying on the floor in the darkened room, with gunshots ringing outside, I asked myself the questions again, “Can you hold a vote in a destroyed society with little or no infrastructure?” Surprisingly, my answer was “YES”, By the sheer will of the people who demand change. I had seen it with my own two eyes!

TEST 3: What are the most serious difficulties encountered in establishing a completely new voting system?

Problems arising from faulty voter lists and discrepancies in the counting process are predictable. A host of other issues shocked the system. Serious violation of human rights occurred including murder, detention, torture, as well as the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of people directly involved in the Referendum process. The violence by police in several provinces was widespread and blatant. The situation is grave, especially in those areas that have no communication capabilities. But for many, just seeing a sizeable percent of soldiers guarding polls instead of engaging in aggressive activities was a sight for sore eyes. Major errors were committed in the run-up to the Referendum. The simple non-existence of a cohesive voter-education-program had a profound impact. People knew little or nothing about their civic duties and in Kinshasa alone up to 85% of the population had no access whatsoever to information regarding the Constitution. A deep desire for this knowledge exists, but there was no official program to address this need. Some armed factions exploited this lack of information. We received reports of soldiers in the provinces pressuring villagers, telling them that the Referendum question was "Do you want more war?" The most serious problems materialized after the Referendum was concluded. There was a chronic lack of official results. In the 24 hours after the polls closed there was no announcement from the IEC and rumors began to circulate that seriously questioned the legitimacy of the process. After three days, based upon an IEC report, only 1/3 of the voting stations had communicated their results to the central office. Some provisional results were published on December 24, 2005, but the final outcome was not announced until Jan 11, 2006, a full three weeks after voting (!!!) (61.97% of the 25 million registered voters participated. 84.31% voted for the constitution). The serious delay was blamed on the lack of proper communication channels from the remote provinces. A report by the Reuters news agency concludes: "Electoral officials said during the count that there had been problems communicating election results by text message via satellite telephones from remote polling stations across Africa's third biggest country, much of which lacks basic infrastructure like roads and telephones after decades of chaos."

TEST 4: How can the voting process be improved?

Technology is never the solution in and of itself. Any further investment into the national voting system in DRC should make a vast education program the number one priority. People are hungry not just for food, but also for knowledge. The addition of an integrated satellite-based voting system could greatly streamline the process and improve the acceptance of the results. We did hold a test run of our satellite voting machine at the COJESKI headquarters in Kinshasa. We voted, pressed the send button and by the time we had walked from the courtyard into the office, the results had been tabulated and displayed online for everybody to see. The speed and user-friendliness of this system impressed all COJESKI members. Such improvements to the national voting system take on a vital importance, especially in context of the much more volatile and urgent Presidential Election that has just been announced for this upcoming May 2006.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO SUMMARY:

Possibility of Holding Successful World Vote in DRC: LOW-MEDIUM.

“Rapport general du monitoring glabal du scrutiny relatif au referendum constitutionnel du 18 et 19 décembre 2005 en République Démocratique du Congo” compiled by COJESKI Download PDF Format (1.6 MB.)