Mennonite
Central
Committee

MCC helps to organize observers for Congo's runoff election

Tim Shenk
November 8, 2006

MCC organized 17 volunteers to observe the voting process in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the country held a presidential runoff on Oct. 29 to complete its first national elections in more than 40 years.

Ten Congolese Mennonites and seven international volunteers worked together to observe voting centers in Kinshasa, the capital city, on election day. Suzanne Lind, an MCC country representative in Congo, helped lead the group and reported that the voting process appeared to go smoothly in Kinshasa despite a rainstorm in the morning and a power outage in the evening.

Elections successful in spite of rains

"People were worried that perhaps not very many people would come out and vote because the rains stopped everything," Lind said. "But by 8 (a.m.) and then 10, the centers were opening and people did come out, probably not as many as the first round, but many, many people went to the polls."

Political Violence

Political violence was reported in at least one Congolese town, but most of the country was calm on election day, including Kinshasa, Lind said.

MCC helped to organize the election observers at the request of Congolese Mennonites and Congo's national council of Protestant churches. During an earlier round of voting, held on July 30, MCC organized 22 international observers who worked alongside Congolese observers.

The people of Congo, formerly known as Zaire, have suffered greatly over the past four decades. The long, corrupt dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko impoverished the country, and two wars from 1996 to 2002 caused millions of deaths.

New political process

Lind said that many groups, including Congolese churches, have worked to educate the population about the need for a peaceful, democratic political process.

"People are learning that you don't have to fight when you lose an election," Lind said. "That's not how elections work. That's the way it used to work when a dictator came in."

The two candidates in the runoff election were Joseph Kabila, the interim president, and Jean-Pierre Bemba, a vice president. The provisional results are scheduled to be announced by Nov. 19. Lind says that some Congolese fear that disappointed partisans will riot after the results are announced.

However, Lind said that some of her Congolese Mennonite friends are more optimistic, believing that tensions are not as high as they have been in the past.

"They say if there's anything bad that happens ... it won't last long, and it will not turn into a major pillage," she said.

 

Congo's presidential runoff election

 

Tim Shenk is a writer for MCC communications.