Electoral Chief Hails DRC Voter Registration Drive

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission [CENI] in the Democratic Republic of Congo says he is pleased with his organization’s performance in the run up to the November 28 general elections.

Reverend Daniel Ngoy Mulunda hailed what he described as the “enormous enthusiasm” among Congolese citizens registering to vote, despite the security challenges in some parts of the country.

“I’m happy to inform people …. we have crossed the level of 20 million voters registered now and we still have almost a month until the [end of] registration,” said Mulunda.

Mulunda, who just returned from a trip to South Africa where he inspected the printing of the ballot papers, said he was satisfied with the process.

“We went to visit the facility to look at the conditions because the [ballot] papers cannot be printed here [in DRC],” said Mulunda. “They have improved the facilities, and we are sure that such a number of papers will be printed, and that South Africa is able to help and it will be on time.”

CENI is compiling a voter list for the parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for November 28.

Mulunda said the commission will soon send invitation letters to both local and international poll observers to monitor the November vote.

“On June 20, we will release the invitation letters to the international observers first and [then to] local observers,” Mulunda said.

Mulunda also said CENI is partnering with the international community including the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo [MONUSCO], to ensure the election is credible.

The government and MONUSCO recently signed a memorandum of understanding calling on the mission to help the electoral body organize the vote.