The electoral commission in the DRC has promised to deliver a flawless election for the first time this year but that pledge looks to be undeliverable as the faults of past elections continue to resurface.
Several residents of Kabare Territory in South Kivu Province have protested their surprising exclusion from the voting list for the upcoming 2023 General Elections despite being eligible and having registered to vote.
On Wednesday 1st November, the people of Kabare took to the streets in a peaceful demonstration to protest their omissions from the voting list.
Residents of Kavumu and Bugorhe communes sent an appeal to the electoral commission, denouncing the fact that, for example, the Cirheja polling center had a total of 9,958 people registered people but only 3,612 names appear on the published voting list.
“In Kabare Nord, in the Cirheja center, out of 9,958 registered voters, only 3,612 were posted. In Kashenyi, out of 4,365 registered, 1,123 were retained. In the regions of Birava, Luhihi, Cirange, Mwanda, Kakamba, nothing is displayed in the centers and polling stations, although provisionally declared by the CENI” a statement by the Young People We Can civil society group in Kabare.
Civil Society President Emmanuel Bengheya has since confirmed that the organization has sent a formal appeal to the local authorities calling on CENI to urgently revise the published lists and display the complete lists in front at the polling centers.
