Tensions rise in presidential election
On the eve of the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the highest institution in charge of electoral disputes - the Constitutional Court – has faced its first test. Benjamin Rwizibuka, from our Companion Diocese of Bukavu, considers the tensions
After the publication, on 20th October, of provisional lists by the CENI (the Independent National Electoral Commission), 24 candidates were deemed valid for the presidential elections. Following this publication, two selected candidates, Seth Kikuni and Noel Tshiani, considered that Felix Tshisekedi – the sitting President - and Moise Katumbi did not meet the conditions required to stand.
First, Kikuni believes that Tshisekedi has changed his identity and that this could pose a problem if he stands again in the future. In 2018, he was elected as Félix Tshisekedi Tshilombo, while for the December elections he has been registered under the name Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo. If successful in December, Kikuni believes that the current president will say that his mandate from 2023 to 2028 was the first and he would therefore be eligible for a second mandate under his new name.
Secondly, Tshiani accused Katumbi of having Italian nationality. Congolese nationality is single and exclusive. Acquiring any other nationality at any time in your life automatically disqualifies you from Congolese nationality.
The Constitutional Court ruled that Tshiani's request concerning Katumbi was unfounded. Indeed, the only material evidence presented was a highly contested article in the newspaper Jeune Afrique. A little earlier, the court had rejected Kikuni's petition against the current president, Tshisekedi, as being filed out of time, with Tshisekedi's lawyer claiming it had been a false debate and a witch hunt. The final list of 24 candidates was published on 18th November.
Since the establishment of CENI and the Constitutional Court, the opposition has attacked the appointments, accusing Tshisekedi of having placed his men in these two institutions, whose responsibility is to organise and manage electoral conflicts. Thus, the request for the invalidation of the candidacy of Katumbi, one of the main opposition figures, was a test for the Constitutional Court which fortunately thwarted the invalidation claims of this candidacy, which would probably have resulted in the first scandal in a very tense process which is expected in December.