DRC: Open Letter on the country’s political, economic and social situation

Kinshasa, July 30, 2011

 

Mr. President of the Republic:

We do have the honor, as patriots, to convey to You these observations regarding the country’s political, economic, and social life on the eve of pluralistic elections scheduled for the month of November 2011.

Firstly, we would like to remind You that under the terms of Article 69 of the Constitution governing us, “The President of the Republic is the Head of the State. He represents the nation and is the symbol of national unity. He ensures the respect of the Constitution. He ensures, through his arbitration, the proper functioning of the public authorities and institutions as well as the continuity of the State. He is the guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity, national sovereignty and the observance of international treaties and agreements.”

Also, in accordance with Article 74 of the same Constitution, You took before the Supreme Court of Justice the following oath:

“I, Joseph Kabila Kabange, elected President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, solemnly swear before the Congolese nation:

– to observe and defend the Constitution and the laws of the Republic;

– to maintain the independence and integrity of the territories;

– to safeguard national unity;

– to be guided only by the common interest and the respect of the rights of the individual;

– to devote all my strength to the promotion of the general good and of peace;

- to loyally fulfill, as a faithful servant of the people, the high duties that have been entrusted to me.”

This solemn commitment, a constitutional necessity of keeping one’s word, determines the symbolic and juridical strictures of the power and legitimacy of the depository of the will of the people that You are.

Thus, our observations, in the present open letter, are articulated around a few points for which we would like to obtain, from Your part, clear responses in terms of sincere commitment susceptible to lead the country toward a better future:

1. The Constitution is unceasingly violated by Yourself and by operatives of Your political movement, and this, without being subject to any sanction. The failure to enact laws within constitutional time limits, the holding of inter-institutional meetings, the collusion of the judiciary power and the constitutional revision of January 2011 particularly, appear to us to be revealing of the will to put Yourself above the Constitution and the laws of the Republic.

2. As democrats, the excessive politicization of some state-run services and enterprises where have been appointed representatives of the Presidential Majority with the view of stamping the label of this political movement to the detriment of the political Opposition, indispensable counterweight in the good functioning of democracy, is disgusting to us.

Besides, membership in PPRD tends to become an imperative in some state services and public establishments upon which are imposed, as well as to their employees, donations so as to show their membership quality and to protect their jobs. This antirepublican behavior violates both Article 193 of the Constitution and Article 36 of the Electoral Law which stipulate respectively:

- Article 193: "The Public Administration is apolitical, neutral and impartial. No one may abuse it for personal or partisan purposes. It includes the civil service (fonction publique) and similar bodies and services."

-Article 36: "It is forbidden the utilization for propaganda purposes, of property, finances, and personnel of the state, of public enterprises, establishments, government institutions and semipublic companies."

And yet, the money of these enterprises is often used to finance some projects of the Presidential Majority, thus putting off indefinitely their priorities.

3. We strongly oppose the appointments being heedlessly carried out within the local territorial administration in contempt of the electoral law and of the law pertaining to fundamental principles regarding the unfettered administration of provinces.

4. The activism displayed by your accomplices in the sociopolitical space against a background of exhibitionism by keeping up a pre-electoral campaign atmosphere is disquieting.  The Presidential majority, whose leader You happen to be, invests itself ahead of time in this action by organization events and gatherings with all the atmospherics of a political campaign, and relayed by official media whose access is still difficult for the opposition. This is a situation that does a disservice to the other political formations within a context of a de-facto absence of the High Council of the Audiovisual and Communication (CSAC), which is supposed to guarantee free speech for all in the media and equal access of all Congolese to contradictory information free from all injunctions.

In order to secure the electoral process, the opposition demands therefore the installation, without delay, of the High Council of the Audiovisual and Communication as well as setting up the Constitutional Court and other jurisdictions able to intervene in the process.

5. Along the thoroughfares and on public buildings, be it in Kinshasa or throughout the Republic, huge political ad billboards, with Your effigy, are erected. This amounts to a permanent electoral campaign on the sly. And, in a democratic state, such practices, which cast a legitimate suspicion on the transparency and the credibility of the elections, are prohibited and, consequently, we kindly ask You to have those giant billboards removed.

6. As to how the sequence of the electoral process will unfold, not only setting the presidential and legislative elections on 28 November 2011 does violate the stipulations of the Constitution in its Article 73 ["The ballot for the election of the President of the Republic is scheduled by the National Elections Commission ninety days before the end of term of the incumbent President"], but moreover the assurances of the president of the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) are given the lie by the reality on the ground that sufficiently demonstrates that we are do not even come close in terms of the prerequisites related to the organization of this ballot.

In fact, just to mention a few prerequisites, we note the absence of census and identification of nationals, of an audit of the electoral registry, and the inaccessibility to the management of the central server by one of the partners in the process, which is the political opposition.  

Furthermore, the insecurity maintained in the eastern territories where armed groups are ubiquitous, the glaring irregularities including the registration of minors, of men in uniform, of foreigners, the massive displacement of populations from one constituency to another where one is a candidate lead to think that there is a deliberate will to organize non-transparent elections.

How could one explain for example that the Katanga Province, with an area of 496,877 Km²  and a population estimated at 9,255,514 (that is, a population density of  18,6 inhabitants per km²) in 2010, be able to register 1,400,000 more voters than Kinshasa, which has a population estimated at 9,71 0,804 (that is,  974,5 inhabitants per km²) that lives on only 9,965 km²?

7. In matters of respect for human rights, our country continues to be featured by massive violations, which are regularly denounced by national and international organizations.

Just to mention a few notorious cases: The outcome of Floribert Chebeya case leaves us in perplexity, given that the Court did not shed light on the assassination of this rights activist assassinated on the same day as his driver Fidèle Bazana in not fully elucidated circumstances, Colonel Daniel Mukalay and his accomplices having only been mere patsies.

Clearing of any wrongdoing the General Inspector of the National Police, though considered the main suspect in this case, casts doubt on the ruling issued by the court of law. We demand that the concerned individual be actually tried since many other elements, in the possession of human rights NGOs, clearly establish the personal responsibility of this general of the Congolese National Police.

We also demand that a thorough investigation be carried out on the assassinations of the provincial assemblyman Daniel Boteti, Armand Tungulu, Mrs. Consolate Kanyere, Bukueba Kazire, Serge Lukusa, and all the journalists and other assassinated rights advocates. Moreover, we demand the release of [jailed] compatriots, including Kutino, Mokia, Molabo,  Firmin Yangambi, Jonathan Tshibasu, Elie Kapend, Etienne Ilunga, Roger Mayamba, and their companions, all of whom are opposition combatants. Prisoners of conscience who are wallowing in prison.

What is more, the political opposition deplores the standoffishness of Your government in the juridical follow-up of the case of Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba detained by the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

Finally, we denounce the hunt, by ANR [Agence Nationale des Renseignements] agents, of Congolese residing abroad, particularly those coming from the U.K., arbitrarily arrested upon arriving in or when departing from Kinshasa as well as journalists and musicians, close to the opposition: cases of Gérard Mavula Mapela, Georges Ekofo Botamba and Baby Balukuna, and musician Marie-Paul.   

The same applies to the travel ban imposed on oppositionists, as is the case with Professor Gaston Dyndon.    

The refusal to register the political party Bundu dia Mayala, though its standing is in full compliance with the laws of the Republic, arouses many a question in the public opinion. And this sufficiently evinces that free speech in the DR Congo has turned into a favor resulting from the "prince's fiat."

Hence, the opposition demands that this political formation enjoy its right of functioning.

8. We do remind You that in your Address to the Nation of 7 December 2009,  You had billed 2010 "the year of the social." The opposition notes with stupefaction that no significant foray has been registered in the areas of public health, education, job creation, and in the improvement of water and electricity distribution.

9. As for setting up national and republican army and police force, we note that Your administration has not been capable to build professional and republican army, police force and security services able to restore peace, to safeguard and to preserve the integrity of the national territory.

What are, for example, the criteria for selecting commanding officers in the army and in the police force that obtain that, in the North and South Kivus, there are only commanding officers issuing from the same persuasion?

Besides, the culpable silence of the government after the release by the United Nations Mapping Report that establishes crimes of genocides, war crimes, and crimes against humanity (including massive rapes of women, men, and children used as a weapon of war), committed against Congolese, has us troubled in that the authors namely cited (Bosco Ntaganda) in that report have not been subject to any criminal prosecution.

10. Despite claims of "Zero Tolerance Policy," which is only an empty slogan, we unfortunately notice that the pillage of natural resources and other national forms of wealth amply denounced by the Report of the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, corruption erected into a form of governance, opacity in the process of awarding public contracts, the predatory system that has choked our economy, money laundering, the existence of a parallel government, the bad business climate, the pauperization of the population, thievery, incompetence as well as clientelism, lead to the notorious regression of the Democratic Republic of Congo and undermine its development.

All the above sufficiently demonstrates that private interest has taken precedence over general interest and that the country is not managed for the common good.

All in all, for having failed at all levels, political, economic, and social, and at this tragic hour when the Nation is in danger, Your administration no longer deserves the trust of the people. Thus, all the forces of the opposition demand that You draw all the obvious consequences while demanding that You cease hijacking the ongoing electoral process.

Failing which, You will bear responsibility for it before the people and before history.

Receive, Mr. President, the expression of our sincere patriotic greetings.

 

Source: Alex Engwete Blog,

Friday, August 5, 2011

Author: Translated from the French by Alex Engwete