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Innocent Madonko in KINSHASA, DRC
THE SADC Electoral Observer Mission to the DRC general elections has been officially launched here with a call to member States to adhere to the bloc’s Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
The SEOM was deployed on 6 December 2023, and has been part of the pre-election process with polls set for Wednesday 20 December.
The deployment was preceded by a Pre-Election Assessment Goodwill Mission of the SADC Electoral Advisory Council from 12-20 October 2023.
Speaking at the SEOM official launch at a hotel in Kinshasa, SEOM Head of Mission, former Zambian Vice President, Mr Enoch Kavindele, said they will assess the DRC elections against a set of central principles stipulated in the revised SADC Guidelines.
These include ensuring full participation of citizens in the democratic and development process; their enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, observance of the relevant legal frameworks in relation to the date or period of elections; measures to prevent corruption, bribery, favouritism, political violence, intimidation or intolerance and equal opportunity for all political parties to access the State media as well as access to information by all citizens.
Other principles include acceptance and respect for the election results by candidates and political parties as proclaimed to have been free, fair, transparent, credible and peaceful by a competent and independent electoral commission and provision of electoral justice through expedient settlement of electoral disputes as provided for in the law.
In order to fulfill its mandate, the SEOM will seek to ensure that the Delimitation process was done in a manner acceptable to stakeholders.
Mr Kavindele said the SEOM will consult a broad and diverse range of stakeholders to obtain an objective and impartial basis from which to draw its findings.
He said the SEOM to the DRC elections consists of personnel, with 52 deployable.
“They are from Zambia, Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania. Our observers have been deployed to various provinces of the DRC. The SEOM observations will focus on the pre-election, election day and post-election periods, which include the campaigns, the polling day and the process of the counting of the ballot papers,” said Mr Kavindele.
“SADC urges all registered voters to exercise their civic and political rights by voting on 20 December 2023. We encourage all stakeholders to ensure that these elections are peaceful, free, fair, transparent and credible. We look forward to an electoral process that adheres to democratic values and principles envisioned in the SADC Treaty, the Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, and the revised Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections”.
Mr Kavindele said the consolidation of democracy in the region can be enhanced if all member States focus on implementing the various recommendations of the SEOMs where such recommendations seek to close gaps and address specific challenges in the electoral systems.
The SEOM to the DRC elections will release its Preliminary Statement on 22 December. Results from the general elections are expected by 31 December while the swearing in of the winner of the Presidential election will be done on 20 January 2024.
Online Reporter