On January 9, the Constitutional Court of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed the landslide victory of current President Félix Tshisekedi in the highly disputed elections of December 20, 2023, but failed to lead the Central African nation out of its electoral crisis. In all rules. .
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the highest court, Tshisekedi legitimately won a second and final five-year term with an impressive 74 percent of the vote, ahead of Moise Katumbi and Martin Fayulu , who came in second and third place. respectively. However, in the eyes of many, including failed presidential contenders Fayuli and Katumbi, the country's synchronized presidential, local, provincial and national elections were a complete “farce”, and perhaps even less reliable and legitimate than the chaotic elections of 2011 and 2018.
The joint observation mission of the Catholic Church and the Church of Christ of Congo (ECC) claimed to have documented 5,402 cases of serious irregularities at polling stations. The churches said these alleged anomalies – malfunctioning voting devices, closed polling stations, vote buying, looting of election materials, poor-quality voter lists and ballot stuffing – could have compromised “the integrity of the results.”
On Christmas Eve, while chaotic elections were still taking place in many localities where the state did not open polling stations on election day, the Archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, expressed the feelings of countless angry voters in the country when he said: “What should we do? “It has been a great celebration of democratic values that quickly turned into frustration for many.”
Indeed, it was extremely frustrating to see the Democratic Republic of the Congo repeat the mistakes of the past, ignoring insistent warnings. Last April, for example, Fayulu, who many independent observers believe won the country's controversial December 2018 presidential election, published an op-ed on this very page warning that his country was “heading toward another sham election” and encouraging CENI to change course and guarantee “free and fair” presidential elections before it is too late.
Denis Kadima, president of CENI, however, chose to ignore this and similar advice.
Confident as ever, he even launched a thinly veiled attack on the opposition a few days before the polls opened, claiming that there were “political groups in this country that are not ready for elections” who “discredit the process, no matter what.” let's do”. '. When the magnitude of the electoral fiasco became clear in late December, Kadima called Fayulu and other candidates who, understandably, were demanding a rerun, “bad losers.”
In the end, Fayulu and others refused to challenge Tshisekedi's victory in court, saying state institutions were neither trustworthy nor independent. Now, the Congolese people are forced to accept the results of a clearly flawed election and a leader with a legitimacy crisis for the second time in five years.
It is time to admit that electoral misconduct and incompetence have become a substantial threat to social cohesion, peace and development in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And sadly, this is a widespread and deep-rooted problem across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
Take Zimbabwe, which has failed to hold a single truly free, fair and transparent election since its independence from British colonial rule in April 1980.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa won two contested elections (in July 2018 and August 2023) against his main rival, Nelson Chamisa, leader of the main opposition party, the Coalition of Citizens for Change (CCC).
Last year's elections, for example, were considered a colossal failure after many polling stations opened late or did not open at all. Anomalies were particularly prevalent in Harare and Bulawayo, traditional opposition strongholds, raising suspicions that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) wanted to suppress votes there and help the ruling Zanu-PF party. Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN) and the Electoral Resource Center (ERC) claimed that Zanu-PF actors were involved in voter intimidation tactics across the country.
Understandably, Chamisa claimed the elections were a “flagrant and gigantic fraud”, while his party called for a rerun. And like Fayulu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he refused to challenge Mnangagwa's corrupt triumph in court, claiming that Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court was “captured.”
Meanwhile, a SADC election observation mission (SEOM), led by Dr Nevers Mumba, former vice-president of Zambia, delivered a scathing preliminary analysis of the August 2023 elections.
Among others, SEOM criticized aspects of the ZEC's 2022 Delimitation Report and highlighted the controversial decision to exclude Savior Kasukuwere, a former Mugabe-era Zanu-PF minister, from the presidential race. In this regard, the mission found that “some aspects of the Harmonized Elections did not comply with the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021).” A large number of delays, he added, had “a knock-on effect, as they deterred voters from voting in the first place” and effectively had “the unfortunate effect of creating doubts about the credibility of this electoral process.”
Harare denounced SEOM's objective assessments and demanded revisions to the preliminary report.
At the same time, state media launched a vicious smear campaign against Mumba, accusing him of being on a Western-sponsored “regime change mission,” all without offering the slightest proof.
Meanwhile, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa came to Harare's defense, as he often does, declaring that other countries, such as the United States, also have electoral challenges, as if millions of frustrated and disenfranchised Zimbabweans care at all. absolute if those problems are also experienced to some extent in Washington.
This is not just a problem for Zimbabwe, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or any country experiencing the latest electoral debacle.
It is important to uphold SADC electoral standards, across all member countries, as Mumba boldly advocated in his draft report, to improve our shared well-being in southern Africa.
SADC leaders have failed us all. The ability to achieve peace, stability and socio-economic change through the ballot box has become a mere pipe dream in most SADC countries.
Zimbabwe has major socioeconomic problems, including an underperforming economy, a crumbling health sector and high unemployment for many decades. And every suspicious choice only serves to deepen these evils.
Amid persistent insecurity in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, the mineral-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo appears to be on the same path as Zimbabwe, and I fear that SADC leaders seem willing to watch with idly the rapid deterioration of the country's fragile democracy.
Instead of diverting attention to careless practices in Western countries, Ramaphosa and his colleagues should insist that all SADC countries adhere to the SADC Principles and Guidelines governing democratic elections.
And whenever violations arise, SADC must impose punitive measures.
With five years to prepare for elections, SADC member states have no plausible excuse to conduct poor elections and effectively jeopardize the socio-political stability of their countries.
To be clear, it is not a matter of controversy who Congolese or Zimbabweans elect as president, but electoral processes in the DRC and Zimbabwe must always be open, fair and transparent.
They must enhance democracy and not openly encourage suspicion, division or violence.
In August 2005, SADC officially established the SADC Electoral Advisory Council, with the mandate to transform election observation, the conduct of democratic elections and the prevention of election-related conflicts in the SADC region.
So far, not enough has definitely been achieved.
SADC leaders have clearly diminished the council's intended effectiveness over the past 18 years, just as they have blatantly endeavored to change, undermine and ignore Mumba's preliminary report on Zimbabwe's electoral sham.
The October 2023 municipal elections in Mozambique, the August 2022 general elections in Angola, the 2020 presidential elections in Tanzania, and the 2020 presidential elections in Malawi were also plagued by serious electoral contraventions, including accusations of fraud, manipulation of votes, violence and repression.
This, no doubt, is indicative of a broader malaise in southern Africa: a democratic retreat.
Looking ahead, SADC leaders must actively monitor the functioning of electoral bodies and implement effective interventions without fail.
The Congolese people and Zimbabweans deserve better.
South Africa deserves better.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
