Rioting mobs destroyed polling stations in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s east and electoral officials organised a revote over burned ballots in the north on Monday, yet much of this war-scarred Central African country called the landmark presidential vote a success as the colossal task of counting ballots began.
The tense election pitted the DRC’s youthful president against a former rebel chief in a vote that many hoped would usher the country into democracy after more than 40 years of dictatorship and war. But there are also fears the vote would ignite a return to war, four years after a 1998-2002 war that pulled in armies from more than half a dozen African nations.
On Monday, a day after the vote, mobs in the north-eastern border town of Fataki destroyed 43 polling stations and the ballots stored within after a soldier killed two electoral workers in the early morning.
UN spokesperson Leocadio Salmeron said it was unclear what prompted the army sergeant to shoot, but said the soldier appeared to be drunk. The soldier was arrested by police, but the population rose up over the incident, Salmeron said.
Elsewhere, polling stations posted tallies and election workers prepared to go home
after spending two nights at their posts. In Kinshasa, where problems collecting and counting millions of ballots in the first round left the final tally open to criticism, the UN commandeered trucks and cars from its various agencies to pick up votes and bring them to one of 14 collection centres.
Both candidates have pledged to accept the results — an important pact given that fighting between their personal security forces in August as first-round results were released killed at least 23 people.
Allegations of fraud or irregular voting can quickly spark unrest in the DRC.
At least one person died on Sunday when protesters who suspected ballot tampering ransacked a dozen polling stations and clashed with security forces in the north-west town of Bumba. The looted polling centres were scheduled to reopen on Tuesday to give voters another chance.
Meanwhile, a rights group said blockades set up by money-extorting soldiers prevented thousands from voting in the east.
Many Congolese said they made their choice on Sunday based on which candidate they trusted to better keep the peace.
International observers sounded optimistic, saying the violence in Fataki and Bumba was not the norm.
”There does not appear to be a trend of either intimidation or violence. One could almost say the opposite,” said Joe Clark, former Canadian prime minister and head of the Atlanta-based Carter Centre’s observing team.
Vote counting began late on Sunday, with electoral workers tallying ballots by battery-powered lanterns and candlelight. Some stations posted their local results as early as 11pm. But overall results are not expected for several days.
The electoral commission has said it will issue provisional results by November 19.
”The country has been destroyed by the dictatorship and war,” said Xavier Kekeli, a 44-year-old French teacher working an electoral station in Kinshasa that stayed open late into the evening to accommodate those kept away by morning rainstorms.
”Everything now comes from the foreigners — even the candles … now it’s time for the Congolese to take on our own destiny.”
In the forested countryside, lack of roads means ballot collection will likely be slow.
”In some places, there’s no way to get there but by helicopter,” electoral commission spokesperson Desire Molekela said.
The postwar transition has been secured by the largest UN mission in the world, a 17 600-strong force backed up for the vote by 2 500 European Union troops in DRC and Gabon.
Congolese are eager to see their tumultuous country take its place among the continent’s modern democracies. Until a constitutional referendum last year, most of its 58-million people had never voted. About 70% of 25-million registered voters
turned out in the first round.
Kabila, credited by many here with launching the postwar transition, captured 45% of the first round vote, compared with Bemba’s 20%, and is favoured to win the five-year term.
Kabila has kept a low profile as interim president and rarely made public appearances. But the 35-year-old who took power at the age of 29 has convinced foreign governments he is capable of governing.
During the war, Bemba ruled a large chunk of north-eastern DRC with support from neighbouring Uganda. Bemba (44) is praised for accepting the power-sharing agreement that ended the fighting. At the same time, the Central African Republic has charged Bemba with war crimes for alleged involvement in a rebellion there. The case is before the International Criminal Court.
”We have an impossible choice to make. Bemba is a bandit and Kabila is not intelligent enough to govern Congo. But we have to make do and hope for the best,” said Nelson Bagula (25) a law student in the eastern town of Goma. ”Our country is so rich, but our people are the poorest. We are voting with hope that this will change.”
Rich in cobalt, diamonds, copper, gold and coltan, the DRC gained independence from Belgium in 1960 and was ruled for 32 years by Mobutu Sese Seko, a dictator who plundered the country’s mineral wealth, pocketing billions and doing little to develop the giant nation. Joseph Kabila’s father helped depose Mobutu, but was then assassinated, leaving his son in power.
The new president will have to establish a unified army and regain control over lawless borderlands in the east thousands of kilometres from Kinshasa, where rebels and militiamen accused of raping and pillaging residents collect their own taxes.
”Voting, it’s also a risk we take,” said Evelyne Kayombo (30) a doctor in Kinshasa. ”In the campaign they promised us rainbows, but we don’t know if they’ll do what they say.” – Sapa-AP