Church leaders, women and youth who participated in the domestic observation of the 20th December 2023 polls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) cite exclusion, theft of electoral materials, human rights violations and voter apathy as major hick ups recorded during the elections in which the President, members of the National Assembly, the 26 provincial assemblies and commune (municipal) councils were elected.
Lack of adequate preparedness by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) was associated with violence which has dominated the eastern part of the country for decades resulting in the displacement of about 7million people and an impediment to a free and fair election. Consequently, three provinces in the North Kivu areas were excluded from the exercise with 27% of polling stations across the country not operating on account of late arrival of voting materials and faulty voter verification machines.
Voter apathy was associated especially with the 2018 elections which were also marked by irregularities and interference by armed groups. Additionally, the general population exhibited lack of faith that CENI would deliver a credible election. Prolonged election period over and above the election day and failure by the electoral body CENI to conduct an independent audit of the voters register were highlighted as major challenges on the voting day coupled with long wait at the voting stations that caused frustration among the voters.
Impact of Article 13 (Women Representation) of the 2023 Election
Article 13 of the electoral law which was enacted to pave the way for equality in DRC politics provided for voluntary incentive mechanisms to encourage women’s political participation inhibited by structural, economic and social barriers that prevent women from running for political office. Despite 50% of the country’s population being women, their leadership at the family or community level remains at the mercy of discriminatory societal norms further binded by incorrect and discriminatory interpretation of the bible that support women exclusion in leadership spaces.
Prior to the general elections, FECCLAHA also facilitated the sensitization of women to participate in the peacebuilding processes during the elections period. The sensitization forum provided a space for the women representatives to highlight some of the gains that were brought about by this new law. The article waived registration fees for political parties which had included at least 50% of women in their party lists in an attempt to provide spaces for more women to ascend to political offices.
Despites this enabling framework challenges to women occupation of political seats still exist such as political tokenism where political parties enrolled women for “participation” without proper sensitization and education on electoral laws and the threshold for election. The number of women coming up to contest for the available seats are minimal and lack of the financial muscle to engage in campaigns compared to their male counterparts. On women participation in voting, consideration was given to PLWDs, pregnant women and women with very young children calling for more support from the church on mentorship and coaching and heightened advocacy on the involvement of women in politics.
FECCLAHA alongside All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) and World Council of Churches (WCC) jointly supported the church leaders in the DRC to deploy domestic observer missions during the December 2023 elections. Over the years has trained church leaders, women and youth and deployed them as both domestic and regional observers.