With two weeks to go before their first democratic elections in more than four decades, it would be abnormal for the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) not to be very, very nervous.
Indeed, the many supporters of the African giant — both on the continent and beyond — are probably nervous enough for the 60-million Congolese. They are doing everything possible to ensure the election on July 30 takes place as peacefully, transparently and fairly as possible.
For the past 45 years, the country has produced a political class with all the wiles, machinations and sophistry of political players the world over with one exception: they have never had to face an electorate. They are arguably the most nervous group of all. No fewer than 19 of the 33 presidential candidates have got cold feet, saying they elections have to be delayed.
”This so-called group of 19 is trying to hold things back,” says DRC ambassador to Pretoria Bene M’Poko.
Speaking from Kinshasa where he went for rebriefing this week, M’Poko says: ”These people are now realising the are not as popular as they thought they might be. They are afraid to face the electorate. It is out of the question for the elections to be delayed. There is absolutely no chance of this. The Congolese people are insisting that the elections to take place on schedule.”
A year ago, when an election deadline slipped, more than a dozen people died in riots in the capital.
Southern African Development Community foreign and defence ministers are visiting Kinshasa this week to show support for the electoral process. Former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano is heading a team of African ex-heads of state making a similar demonstration of solidarity.
Some opposition groups say that additional ballot papers secured by the Independent Electoral Commission might be used to rig the election.
M’Poko dismisses this. ”The electoral commission was advised to have spare ballot papers in case of unforeseen events, like a plane crash or a natural disaster. This is normal practice.”
The fever-pitch level of tension was illustrated in Kinshasa midweek by the violence at a demonstration for greater transparency. Police used clubs and teargas to break up the gathering, seriously wounding several people.
As the campaigning gets dirtier, the DRC’s President Joseph Kabila is taking stick for having been raised in Tanzania. Opponents are trying to label him a foreigner, undeserving of the international support he enjoys and are trying to paint him as complicit in the foreign exploitation of the country’s vast mineral and natural wealth.
The international community — mostly the United Nations and the European Union — is pouring R2,6-billion into the DRC for what has become the most expensive election-support operation in its history.
There is no ambiguity about what is at stake. If the DRC has successful elections, it will transform the region. The beneficial effect will be felt far beyond the Great Lakes.
Neither is there are doubt about the size of the challenge. Is the country ready for elections? Probably not. But it was not ready for last year’s constitutional referendum. And no one concerned about safety would have dared further delay either of these processes.