DRC President, Félix Tshisekedi, aims to stay in office for a second term as a candidate for his own succession. This would be his last term according to the constitutional requirements.
The DRC election campaign season is yet to begin as the elections are slated for December 20 2023 but the political field is already worrying. The chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Denis Kadima, has confirmed that the elections will be held then and won’t be postponed. The President has also confirmed that the polls will be held on the date.
With this in mind, the president’s challengers have already started street demonstrations against his office maintenance. They are protesting against the ‘high cost of living’ and for the organization of fair elections. The demonstrations are creating an election campaign ahead of schedule.
Five candidates have already announced that they will be vying for the presidency, the sitting president included. Moïse Katumbi, Augustin Matata, Delly Sessanga and Martin Fayulu are the four other candidates that have announced their candidacy for the presidency. The four candidates have joined forces against the sitting president by attacking his record and terming it as ‘mediocre.’
“Felix has not succeeded in restoring security to the country and his management has ended up fueling the food crisis in the country,” said the four other candidates.
Critics of sitting DRC President
The four have pointed to the insecurity existing in the country. With the resurgence of the M23 that was dealt with in 2013. They also blame him for the persistent armed groups in East DRC that have caused harm to a lot of its citizens. This resurgence and persistence are because of the poor security that Felix’s government has input. They record that the death toll has risen to approximately 4000 civilians dead since the state of siege was declared in the country.
The opposition groups are blaming Felix’s government for the extended influence that ADF, from an Islamic State, have had during his regime. According to UN statistics, over six million Congolese have taken refuge abroad and over six million are internally displaced by the unrest in the country. The FAO and WFP have announced that 27 million people in DRC are in crisis as a result of the food crisis in the country.
The Government spokesman, Patrick Muyaya comments on the allegations posed on Felix’s government as not his fault. He mentions that insecurity in the East has been there since Rwandan Genocide, 30 years ago. It is therefore not his fault that the armed groups are persistent but there are measures being taken to solve it. Muyaya mentions that there is a path to settling the unrest through Nairobi and Luanda processes.
He also mentions that DRC is on a path to rebuild its army, with a budget of one billion dollars, allocated in the budget as per the military program law.
“A defence policy that we haven’t had since the 1960s,” said Muyaya
Alongside the insecurity claims ais the food crisis, Muyaya points out that opposition claims are ‘purely political posturing’ and not at all true. The minister of communications said that DRC has had an 8.9% growth which is the highest in Africa. It has also risen through the ranks in the top 10 richest countries in terms of GDP.
This atmosphere of the electoral campaign is ahead of schedule and the field is already chaotic. The president is clearing up his image for him to gain supporters in the coming elections as his opposing candidates are tarnishing his name. More candidates for the presidency are announcing themselves with a probable number of 10 candidates looming.
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