DRC: a report tries to revive the debate on the reform of the CENI ousted by the political crisis
Ceni workers record the results at the Diyavanga School polling station in Masina, Kinshasa during the 2011 elections. Illustrative photo.
Daniel Finnan
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there is a reform that we do not talk much about in view of the crisis which is shaking the institutions, and that is the reform of the electoral commission.
This question is even one of the main bones of contention between the camp of President Tshisekedi and that of his predecessor.
However, it will be necessary to agree, and quickly, on the rules of the game to avoid another slippage in the schedule.
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At the start of the crucial year 2021, the study group on Congo, a research center that depends on the University of New York, publishes a report on this question:
Reform of the CENI in the DRC: Des necessary garde- mad at the impossible depoliticization.
For the GEC, the first of the safeguards should be a “
balanced composition
” of the electoral commission and at all levels of management, that is to say up to the provincial executive secretariats and local branches.
Today, even at the national level, this is not the case.
The CENI plenary has 6 members for the parliamentary majority, 4 for the opposition and 3 for civil society.
This research center also recommends strengthening the powers of the plenary against the president of the CENI until then all-powerful.
The second major axis of reform should be according to the GEC to work so that the CENI is accountable.
Between 2016 and 2019, its estimated budget stood at $ 1.2 billion and there was no financial audit, note the authors of this report.
They also plead for the establishment of operational transparency mechanisms, such as compliance with procurement procedures.
We remember that the famous voting machines were bought for 150 million dollars by mutual agreement.
But this additional transparency could also involve the publication of the results polling station by polling station.
What had been demanded during the last elections of 2018.
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DRC
Felix Tshisekedi