Few months ago I wrote about my total unbelief in this “western” & blindly imported concept of “democracy” in Africa and around the world, you all know how some people came banging on my head.
Today again, I cant help but revisiting this theme because my people and I are victims of this illusion so highly preached by their prime exporters, you know who I mean…
On November 28, my people and I were called to decide on our destiny through coupled presidential and parliamentary elections…
All the writings were out there on the wall, the outcome was known in advance. The murderous incumbent Joseph “Kabila” stood no chance of winning. The long-time freedom fighter and liberty defender Etienne Tshisekedi was by far predicted as winner both by the people and most of Congolese political analysts.
The country has been through a lot during the “Kabila” decade. 5 years after accidently coming to power after the “assassination” of his “adoptive” father Laurent-Désiré Kabila, the Democratic Republic of the Congo went to the polls for the first time since the independence in the 60’s. Though Joseph “Kabila” didn’t win the majority of required votes, he remained in power after fighting between his forces and those of his closest rival Jean-Pierre Bemba erupted in Kinshasa.
“Kabila” occupied the office of the president of the country while Jean-Pierre Bemba was offered a cell in the infamous United Nations-backed and Western imperialists-funded “International Criminal Court” of The Hague in Netherlands, for crimes supposedly committed by his troops in the Central African Republic while he was still a rebel leader… Feel free to go figure the timing of the arrest and the pseudo charges. That’s a story and a half; we’ll go through it some other time.
Five years later in 2011, that’s this year, Congolese were called again to the polls to elect their president. Fact is the incumbent didn’t really do much of a job, the majority of Congolese found in this an opportunity to peacefully get rid of him once and for all. But Oh boy! We’ve been taken for a ride… AGAIN.
Acknowledging the fact that an “honest” victory through the polls was an illusion for him, Joseph “Kabila” decided through the so-called democratic process to turn EVERYTHING to his unique advantage.
First, he used his parliamentary majority, formed by mostly paid-to-vote MPs to amend our precious constitution by cutting down the two rounds electoral process to a single one. With that done, he was guaranteed to save time and money by rigging the elections only once to make sure he stayed in control.
Second, he handpicked his ally, friend, co-founder of his political party (PPRD), cousin and pseudo Methodist pastor Daniel Ngoy Mulunda as chief of the newly renamed and revamped National Independent [sic] Electoral Commission. That was a move that clearly put him in charge by proxy of the whole electoral process. And we all knew who the intended winner was by then.
Third… Fourth… Fifth… I wouldn’t go through all these details, too many things to mention but you clearly have a bigger picture of his bigger plan right? Cool, let’s move.
So the anticipated coupled elections finally came on November 28, 2011 during which day at least 8 people were killed according to recorded reports from various sources. Needless to say, the whole process was beyond chaotic. Some polls opened almost when the sun was heading west, armed attacks on various polling stations, some stations didn’t receive voting materials (mainly opposition strongholds), voters couldn’t find their names on the voters’ lists published outside polling stations, pro-government armed men intimidating voters to tick next to the presidential picture on the ballot or people close to his party for parliamentary ballots, electoral officials being attacked on their way to deliver voting materials to polling stations… Let me stop right there. Close your eyes, picture the chaos… SIGH!
Unconstitutionally and against the ruling electoral laws, voting HAD to be extended to the next day. Once done, the same cyclic chaos repeated itself with the same clamor. Again, we were not pretty surprised, intentional chaotic situations tend to unfold just like they were MEANT to be, at least 95% of the time of course. Voting even went for a third day. In between massive frauds in favor of “Kabila” were being reported; pre-marked ballots, intimidation by armed men forcing people to vote “Kabila”, among other things and the biggest report was a whole plane dispatched by the South African Air Forces carrying what was recorded as pre-marked ballots in the favor of “Kabila” delivered in Katanga Province, noting that they were dutifully printed by a South African “billionaire” Robert Gumede and very close friend to “Kabila”. Fraud that “Kabila”’s other friend, the Electoral Commission chief justified as an extra shipment, ordered after ballots were damaged by protests on the first day of voting.
Ermm they all spent that day making statements to both local & International journalists that “All was going smoothly besides MINOR incidents”.
From “All is going smoothly” to millions of new ballots being lost and reordered? Why he never mentioned such a BIG LOSS in his press statements? Feel free to go figure, it’s not a very long drive/walk/fly… Whichever works for you!
And not so surprisingly, “Kabila” received abnormal votes in the same Katanga Province. Let me move on to the next phase… Too many things to mention here.
Frauds were so massively reported that pressure mounted to force the Electoral Commission chief to start publishing preliminary results as the compilation process already started. THEN the big joke started to reveal itself.
The fear of the opposition, the expected winner of the elections, was become a living reality. Votes were massively allocated to the outgoing presidential candidate. Came the first, second, third and fourth preliminary results publication, which in fact was a way to show the world who the intended leader was.
“Kabila” was leading the opposition in provinces where he was not even expected to collect 5% of votes, based on the national mood, polls and current political climate.
The weird thing was that the more ballots were counted, the less votes the leading opposition leader was receiving.
For example, on December 6, 2011 the candidate Etienne Tshisekedi received 5,927,728 votes from 17,329,137 counteed but on December 9, 2001 he had 5,863,745 votes from 18,144,154 counted? So literally he lost 63,983 votes? While actually 34,000 more polling stations were added?
I thought counting electoral votes was done by adding and not substracting. Go figure their methodology.
The opposition leaders subsequently declared the results false and some of them called for the total annulment of the electoral process and its outrageous results.
But the Electoral Commission chief kept pretending to act and look busier than ever, actions speak louder than words we heard, so he tried to convince his verbal lies to turn into active truths. Weird philosophy I tell ya.
Then finally the official day to publish the final results came, December 6, 2011. Then it went. The pseudo pastor had to postpone it, his excuse; they were carefully double checking the reports to make sure all candidates were allocated their respective votes. Then came the new date, then it went again… The pastor gave the very same excuses only this time with a tweak of language to sound even more serious. Meanwhile the people, impatiently waited for their elected president to be finally announced, that’s through official channels of course, through the sole mouth of the Electoral Commission chief, whose lies started to irritate some quarters.
In this unbearable patience, voices started to rise to clearly denounce electoral frauds, preliminary results released and many other weird things happening inside the offices of that pastor and his aides.
Rumor was, he was actively trying to fulfill his presidentially dictated mandate, to do whatever it takes to make “Kabila” the winner of the election, even if it was logically, politically, socially, emotionally, even spiritually and as far as theologically IMPOSSIBLE for the man to claim any form of victory after these anticipated elections.
International, regional, local and religious observers pointed out the unreliability of the published preliminary results. By doing so, helping the people and the world to understand that whatever the final results are, they cant be trusted.
But STILL… The pseudo pastor finally published the official results, after countless postponements.
Joseph “Kabila” was declared the winner.
The supposedly massively elected president went into hiding, away from his electorate, more than 20 000 troops were deployed in the capital province-city Kinshasa alone, and even more nationally. Around the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the people took it to the streets, facing a harsh & disproportional army/police retaliation.
Around the globe Congolese from all corners cried out. The sitting-in government started its oppressive maintenance of public order.
Bodies started to fall, nobody has the official count. The Electoral Commission chief had to do some damage control to convince the world of his “Independence”.
Things were not looking good. The opposition leader and closest contender to “Kabila” as per the “recorded” results claimed his due. He proclaimed himself “Elected President”. The people sided with him. The people accepted their choice.
Then the Revolutionary Republic of the Congo, started…
DEMOCRACY: –noun, plural -cies.
1. government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a “free” electoral system.
2. a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are supposedly democracies… sic
3. a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.
4. political or social equality; democratic spirit.
5. the common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.
(Part III coming soon)
Bentley Lumumba
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