Delays blight start of Congo polls
KINSHASA: Voting in Democratic Republic of Congo’s long-anticipated presidential election got off to a rocky start due to torrential rain in the capital, long delays at some polling stations and broken-down machines.
Three opposition strongholds will not see any casting of ballots after authorities cancelled the vote there, citing health risks from an ongoing Ebola outbreak and ethnic violence.
Elections are a rare event in Congo, which has been plagued by authoritarian rule, assassinations, coups and civil wars since independence from Belgium in 1960.
If President Joseph Kabila, in power since his father’s assassination in 2001, steps down after the vote, it will be the country’s first ever democratic transition.
Kabila voted early yesterday morning in the capital Kinshasa at the same school as the candidate he is backing, former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, whom the latest opinion polls showed trailing two opposition candidates.
“My only concern is that we have this very heavy rain and probably voter turnout might be low, but hopefully the skies will clear and the voters will turn out in numbers,” Kabila told reporters.
The Catholic bishops conference said voting had not started on time at 830 polling stations, equivalent to about one-fifth of the stations across the country where it had deployed observers.
It also said 846 polling stations were installed in “prohibited plac- es” like military and police posts.
In the eastern city of Goma, where the weather was clear, a Reuters witness saw residents casting their votes, but another polling station in the city was still closed 90 minutes after polls opened at 6am.
“Some (voters) do not even know how to use the voting machine,” said voter Kayembe Mvita Dido.
He was referring to the new electronic voting system, criticised by the opposition as vulnerable to fraud.
Several machines broke down in Kinshasa, Goma and Bukavu, bringing voting in some places to a halt, witnesses said.
Some voters complained that they could not find their names on the rolls, and flooded streets in Kinshasa prevented others from reaching their polling stations. — Reuters