Post Conflict Election Post
22 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in DRC
Things have certainly quieted down since the November 28th Presidential elections. In 2006 the Joseph Kabila decided to legitimize his three year rule, with the help of MONUSCO (United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) the exercise was also flawed but with the huge amounts of money and support they were able to hold a run-off election for the presidential candidates and the provincial parliaments. During this period the then Vice President and ex-rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba (who know finds himself at the ICC) along with his personal army raised havoc in the capital setting off a violent stand-off between his supporters and President Kabila’s national guard. The fighting lasted months and killed over 600 people in Kinshasa alone.
This time around the DRC was completely unaccompanied in its second ever multiparty elections; and surprise surprise things went awry. The same folks who contested the 2006 elections reappeared but this time the main opposition Etienne Tshisekede had only an army of words and civilian supporters. He is an old militant politico who has reached his 79 years and appears to have become senile…He has been trying to gain popularity since Mobutu’s time and now is living in a fantasy world where he declares himself president in his own home around 11 some cronies and PooF he’s in. However Joseph Kabila has an iron grip on the country and during the election period turned Kinshasa into occupied territory. Colleagues and friends who spent the electoral period here said they couldn’t leave their house for over two weeks and those who did found the streets deserted but for the Congolese army and police lining the streets. Any protests that manifested were immediately repressed with tear gas, water canons or bullets.
Luckily I, like many other NGO workers, fled the country to neighboring Rwanda. I have a lovely apartment in Kinshasa but staying in it for two weeks straight would undoubtedly driven my partner and I mad. Instead we followed the news via internet and through colleagues up until they blocked all text messages in Congo. Rwanda was a completely different world where order and efficiency rein. Since the Paul Kagame took over after the 1994 genocide he has held power and restored calm. Things there are indeed very calm, organized and clean. Kagame is often praised for turning the country around, developing infrastructure and industry and capitalizing on tourism. At the same time he is criticized for well, being a dictator. It has been 18 years…Here is a very interesting article by one of Kagame’s top advisers on why democracy in Africa just doesn’t work. TNT 14 Dec 11 High times on Democratization in Africa . One of his main arguments is the political violence that democratic elections bring about in Africa is not worth it.
In some ways the events in Kinshasa prove his point, 26 people were killed (much less than in 2006) but the confidence lost in the system here is huge (not there was ever very much). From what I have seen Congolese are very proud people but certainly with the continuation of unfair elections and essentially dictator after dictator they get discouraged.
The elections here are very complicated and not over yet, we await the announcement of the American ‘elections experts’ (I know, oxymoron, right Florida?) on the legislative results early this week. I only know what I’ve been reading in the news but for a more in depth and much more informed perspective check out Jason Stearns’ blog called http://congosiasa.blogspot.com/ .
