Former CENI president Corneille Nangaa has made glaring revelations that confirm speculation President Felix Tshisekedi’s ascendance to power was not as a result of victory at the ballot but a political arrangement between former president Joseph Kabila and the incumbent to which he was proudly a party as it saved the Democratic Republic of Congo from a bloodbath.
Unveiling his intention to contest the 2023 presidential election through an interview with Jeune Afrique, Nangaa says he was proud of the conduct of the 2018 elections and eventual outcokme as they were the country’s first peaceful transition of power which were resolved without a crack of the bullet.
“Today, we have in the DRC a former president, who can live freely in his country, and a new one, who is in charge of running the state,” Nangaa said. “There is no point in constantly saying that the elections [in 2018] were controversial. It’s dangerous and it means nothing. Controversy is a common commodity, fueling controversy around the results of any electoral competition [is dangerous]. Even in the United States, election results are controversial.”
Nangaa, who was sanctioned by the United States for a litany of corruption allegations and for obstructing a democratic process through the handling of the 2018 polls, says he played his cards right but has emerged as a critic of the current electoral process which is in the process of the registration of voters.
“Between Félix Tshisekedi and Joseph Kabila, thank God, I was in the front row during the change of power. A political agreement was reached and I remain convinced that it should not be thrown into the dustbin of history, because it saved the Republic from a possible bloodbath,” he said.
The comment has triggered the political base in the country with some leaders of the opposition calling on the Attorney General to open an inquiry to establish the “political arrangement” that Nangaa referred to as it was outside the ambit of his duties which were to announce the winner of the polls based on the tallies of the votes.
Parallel Voter Tabulation in 2018 carried out by the civil society organization of the Catholic Church, CENCO, and other observers showed that opposition leader Martin Fayulu who was baked by Jean Pierre Bemba, Moise Katumbi and Adolph Muzito won the polls with over 60% while Tshisekedi who partnered with Vital Kamerhe came in distant second with less than 20% of the total vote while the then ruling party candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary was third with less than 15% of the total vote.
According to those close to events, Kabila summoned Tshisekedi and struck a deal that the new government should not pursue him and his associates for alleged plunder of national resources or any other crimes committed during his tenure. The sources reveal that Tshisekedi warmed up to the proposal and gave Kabila is word, an agreement which led Nangaa to controversially declare him as winner over two weeks after the vote was held and internet connection had been scrambled countrywide.
