Protest against voting machines

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s opposition will be allowed to hold a rally in Kinshasa on Friday to protest against voting machines they fear will permit fraud in December’s key election, an opposition official said.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC’s) opposition will be allowed to hold a rally in Kinshasa on Friday to protest against voting machines they fear will permit fraud in December’s election, an opposition official said.

Political tensions in the DRC are rising before the longdelayed December 23 election to select a successor to President Joseph Kabila, who stepped aside in 2018.

Kabila promised at the UN in September the vote would go ahead and said he would take steps to guarantee a credible ballot. But the months before he said he would step aside were marked by brutally repressed protests that cost dozens of lives.

Critics worry Kabila is trying to ensure his favoured successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a hardline former interior minister, faces no serious challenger. They fear the voting machines will allow fraud.

Election officials said the machines would cut costs and protect against vote-rigging.

Opposition leader Vital Kamerhe, one of the 21 candidates for the presidency, said opposition representatives had been summoned on Wednesday by Kinshasa local authorities to organise security for the march on Friday.

“We will hold a rally without precedent to show to the world that the opposition wants elections on December 23, but elections that are credible, free and transparent,” said Kamerhe, president of the UNC opposition party.