DRC polls: Africa holds its breath
David Masango
28 July 2006
As the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) prepares to go to the polls, Congolese nationals living in South Africa express their hope that the elections will bring the peace and democracy which has eluded their country for so long.
Sunday's elections will be the first in 40 years to be held in the vast Great Lakes country since its independence over four decades ago.
Key political figures contesting for the presidency include 35-year-old Joseph Kabila, who has been at the helm since 2001 following his father Laurent Kabila's assassination.
Another is 44-year-old Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former rebel leader and one of four vice presidents in the DRC's transitional government.
Azarias Ruberwa, a 42-year-old former rebel and vice president in the transitional government, is also a key runner. Other key presidential hopefuls are Pierre Pay Pay and Etienne Tshisekedi.
Meeting at Mabaki's hair salon
All this
information is shared with me by a group of Congolese nationals who gather daily at a small shop in Arcadia, Pretoria to watch a "special television channel" to catch up on developments back home.
The views are mixed - some are confident that the elections would be fair and bring about peace and democracy, others are sceptical.
Narcisse Mabaki, who is in his thirties, is one of the men who are optimistic that the elections will be successful.
"Although I do not belong to any party and I will not be able to vote, I am very happy that my country is holding its first proper elections in many years," Mabaki says. "I am happy people will be able to express themselves freely and choose their own leaders.
"I believe the elections will be free and fair," he says loudly, laughing and banging the table with his hand.
Mabaki runs the hair salon, the meeting place for his compatriots, where debates flow freely. Many of the Congolese here are refugees, he points out,
and his salon provides him and about 20 others with a regular venue to discuss issues about their country.
Will peace be the winner?
Tonight the discussions are around the elections, and everyone is eager to have their opinion heard, the voices rising as everyone tries to put their point across.
Another man expresses his "100 percent support" for the elections. "They are a symbol of democracy - you have to give people a chance to elect their own leaders," he says loudly.
However, some differ with this view, saying the elections will not bring peace and democracy to the DRC. They argue the country is at risk of plunging back into turmoil.
"Those who will lose may not accept the results," one warns ominously.
Some of the contentious issues that this group raises are around the nationality of the candidates, and also that foreigners residing in the DRC may be able to vote because, they argue, many people there do not have
proper identity documentation.
But they all seem to agree on one issue: the man they would like to see run the country. They say he is popular and well-known in the DRC because he stands for non-violent change to democratic rule.
What happens on the day
Kuseni Dlamini, a political analyst with the Centre for African Studies, told BuaNews that all it was "of huge significance that the people [of the DRC] will for the first time enjoy democracy and choose their own leaders."
"All indications seem to suggest the elections will bring a change in the political climate on the DRC," Dlamini said, but warned that much would depend on what happened on election day.
"It is important that people be allowed to go and vote and not be prevented to do so," Dlamini said. "It is also important that the counting be conducted in a transparent manner.
"The elections will also be a test of maturity for the political parties in the DRC - they
must accept the results, even [if they are] defeated".
Mabaki and his friends will be keeping a close eye on developments - and depending on their brothers and sisters back home to help usher in democracy by casting their votes on Sunday.
And they are planning a huge party to celebrate.
Source: BuaNews
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