The National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) and the Church of Christ in Congo (ECC) have issued a strong statement criticizing the recent shambolic electoral process held in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s 2023 General Elections.
The religious institutions are now calling on the Attorney General at the Constitutional Court to scan through the irregularities noted in the electoral process.
In a joint statement published this Thursday, January 4, the two religious institutions noted multiple violations of the legal framework during voting operations of the 20 December polls leading to documented irregularities.
CENCO-ECC have expressed concern about the impact of the noted irregularities on the electoral fairness and calls for the Attorney General to act proactively.
The churches also stressed the importance of implementing the recommendations of the CENCO-ECC Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) of December 28, 2023 and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) to shed light on all cases documented by the various stakeholders, suggesting the need for an independent and joint commission of inquiry.
Furthermore, CENCO and the ECC strongly condemned the verbal and physical violence observed throughout the electoral process, calling on the Attorney General of the Republic to initiate legal proceedings against the perpetrators of acts of electoral violation and fraud.
The churches also encouraged the use of peaceful channels for any grievances to be addressed and stressed the importance of CENI respecting its commitment by publishing the provisional results in accordance with article 71 of the Electoral Law.
Félix Tshisekedi was re-elected for a second term as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo after obtaining 73% of the votes according to provisional results proclaimed by the CENI.
Out of 41.7 million expected voters, only 18 million participated which represents a meagre participation rate of 43%, according to the CENI in what was one of the most disorganized elections ever held in the history of the DR Congo.
