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Election officials gather ballots in November 2011 at a polling station in Kinshasa, Congo. Months after Congo's general elections, the nation's bishops continue to speak out about the legitimacy of the results.
Election officials gather ballots in November 2011 at a polling station in Kinshasa, Congo. Months after Congo's general elections, the nation's bishops continue to speak out about the legitimacy of the results. CNS photo/Finbarr O'Reilly, Reuters

Congo's bishops: Elections 'stained,' council must acknowledge errors

By  Catholic News Service
  • January 26, 2012

KINSHASA, Congo - Months after Congo's general elections, the nation's bishops continue to speak out about the legitimacy of the results.

"We believe that the electoral process is stained by serious irregularities which raise questions about the published results," the bishops' conference said in mid-January. "We call on the organizers to have the courage and honesty to draw the necessary conclusions."

The bishops called on members of the National Electoral Council to "have the courage to question their own practices, or if not, step down."

In December, the government said incumbent Joseph Kabila won the presidential race with nearly 49 percent of the vote, but pressure has intensified on Congolese electoral officials to step down and on the government to cancel the announced victory.

At least 40 deputies and seven senators have called for cancellation of the elections as widespread fraud has been unveiled bits at a time since the Nov. 28 polls. This includes revelations that certain provincial governors were complicit in the setting up of fraud networks, put in place to stuff ballot boxes, cheat semi-literate voters, create a climate of fear and then falsify the vote count.

The church's national justice and peace commission fielded 3,000 lay observers to rural polling stations. The bishops' conference and Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo of Kinshasa have issued statements on the legitimacy of the process, and Cardinal Monsengwo has since been the target of a defamation campaign for his remarks.

In their most recent statement, the bishops said that, after analysis of the reports of church observers, many more serious irregularities than initially thought have come to light. The justice and peace final report showed that the elections took place, in many places, in a "climate of chaos," in which several irregularities, including "serious, and apparently premeditated fraud, several incidents leading to deaths," and in certain places, "a climate of terror deliberately maintained to allow ballot-box stuffing." In addition, the bishops say, "current compilation of legislative elections results is unacceptable."

"Rule of law cannot be built on a culture of fraud, lies and terror, militarization and attacks on freedom of expression," they said.

The electoral process should consolidate a culture of democracy and peace in the country.

"We seek peace, but this peace cannot be without truth, justice and respect for the people," they said.

Le Potentiel, a Congolese daily, commented Jan. 24 on the increasing revelations of electoral fraud.

"The boa constrictor is in the process of being disembowelled," leaving only "an empty shell," it said.

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