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KINSHASA/NEW YORK. – President Joseph Kabila has said his country’s overdue elections scheduled for December would go ahead as planned.
President Kabila was speaking in an address at a joint session of parliament on Thursday.
The deadline for candidates to declare their bid to run is just under three weeks. But President Kabila on Thursday in his speech failed to answer one of the questions on the minds of Congolese that has remained.
Will Joseph Kabila who has remained in power after his mandate ran out in December 2016 stand for a third term in office?
Meanwhile, the top security bodies of the United Nations and the African Union on Thursday called for a peaceful transfer of power following elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year.
After meeting at UN headquarters in New York, the UN Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council said in a joint statement that the December 23 elections “must lead to a peaceful and democratic transfer of power, in accordance with the constitution.”
Hours earlier, President Kabila had delivered a state of the union address in which he vowed to “unequivocally respect the constitution” but did not clearly state that he would not seek re-election.
The joint UN-AU statement threatened “appropriate measures against all Congolese actors” who impede the organisation of the elections.
Candidates have until August 8 to register for the presidential vote.
Fresh elections should have been held in December 2016, but were then postponed until 2017 and are now scheduled to be held on December 23.
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has postponed a visit to the DRC to allow President Kabila to decide on his political future without the appearance that he is a target of international pressure.
The Security Council is also considering a visit to the DRC amid concerns that the country could slide into violence as it prepares for the vote.
The DRC hosts the UN’s biggest peacekeeping mission, Monusco, with some 17 500 troops and police. – Africa News/AFP
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