Congolese nationals disappointed by postponed elections

Africa

Some Congolese nationals in Cape Town have expressed disappointment over the latest news that the provincial elections have been postponed to March next year in the three cities of Beni, Butembo and Yumbi in the North Kivu and Mai-Ndombe provinces.

The BBC made a report earlier that the Congolese Electoral Commission’s decision to postpone the provincial elections in the three cities was meant to save lives due to an Ebola outbreak.

The Congolese Electoral Commission is reportedly concerned about the risk of the Ebola outbreak worsening, if voters travel to the polling stations. The elections were originally scheduled for December 23rd. Then they were later postponed to December 30th and have yet again been postponed to March next year in the three cities. A DRC national who is a small business entrepreneur in Cape Town says the postponements come as no surprise.

“We knew that there will be NO elections in Congo, because that was his plan already. He planned that for a long time ago. All those things of Ebola those kind of things, it’s just a stupid mistake. Kabila will never do election in Congo because he knows that once they make election in Congo they won’t vote for him. Now to avoid that he has to do all those kind of things. What we have to do know,- people have to stand up go on the streets, protest against him every single day until he go otherwise there will be no election in Congo. Last week they said the machine was burnt; now they say there is Ebola they postpone until March. They are taking people like they are stupid.”

Another Congolese man who runs a hair salon in Cape Town is not happy about the postponement of the provincial elections in three cities.

“We do not agree cause we are willing to go to the election to vote for the president because we are tired of the old President Joseph Kabila, so what is the problem with the Commission Electoral,- we don’t understand. Last time they say is the problem with material vote. But this reason they give us now we are not agreeing with it.”

A Congolese vendor based in Cape Town who has described the DRC Joseph Kabila as a good President says it’s time he stepped down. He also expressed his concern about the postponements.

“They have to do it because it’s not about Ebola they are talking about. It’s about elections. We need a new president in Congo. But Kabila is a good president but the problem is the time (for him) to stop is over already. But we need elections in Congo because we need a new President in Congo for everything to take place in good position.”

And this Congolese national and business owner also in Cape Town says the DRC government should rather allow the country to undergo a transition phase instead of allowing another postponement of the elections. He is among those who’ve expressed dissatisfaction on the latest news that the provincial elections have been postponed in the three cities of Beni, Butembo and Yumbi in the North Kivu and Mai-Ndombe provinces.

“I don’t agree about that one. If they want to postpone everything, its better they must leave the power. We can go on transition without this old government. We can go just with new things. Not with old president. We can go with the president of Parliament that they can just rule. But not the President Kabila to rule again to continue with him. No-no-no-no we don’t want that.”

Some people in South Africa are also concerned about the postponement of elections in some parts of the DRC. When he delivered his sermon during the annual Midnight Mass at the St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on Christmas, Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba asked congregants to pray for the people of the DRC.

“I do want to express concern for our sisters and brothers in the Democratic Republic of Congo who were meant to be voting yesterday (23rd Dec) in what should have been the country’s first democratic transition of power since independence nearly 60-years ago. Please pray for Archbishop (Masimango) Katanda, for Anglicans in the Congo and indeed all the country’s people as we look forward to elections, hopefully delayed only to next Sunday.”

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-Article sourced from SABC News

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