Electoral players in the Democratic Republic of Congo have lashed out at an emergency SADC response group for not dealing with the rampant contentious issues ahead of the December 23 polls.
The parties that met the SADC team visiting the country expressed disgust that the regional body has let President Felix Tshisekedi appoint his Kasai tribesmen in key positions – something they fear will pave way for rigging and consequently anarchy in the country.
Other issues included the proper audit of the voter’s roll, the publication of the voter’s roll at each polling station as required by the law.
The purpose the SADC Electoral Advisory Council (SEAC) in the DRC is to assess whether the political and security environment in the country is conducive to the holding of free, fair, transparent, credible and peaceful elections, in accordance with the revised SADC principles and guidelines
The team is also evaluating the legal and constitutional framework governing the presidential, legislative and provincial elections of the December 2023 in the DRC.
SADC is also evaluating whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) of the
DRC is ready to conduct elections.
However, DRC players believe SADC is complacent but warn that the chaos resulting from a rigged election will spiral to the region and affect trade.
