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Enrollment centers hard to find, offices without machines or agents and poor communication. Launched on Saturday in 10 of the 26 provinces for the elections, including the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for December 20, 2023, the progress of the voter registration operation is struggling to reassure the opposition.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa
« The opening was very timid, there was no excitement in enrollment centers “, according to the first findings of the Consortium of Citizen Electoral Observation Missions, which points to a lack of awareness among future voters. For Patrick Ntambwe, president of this observation mission, the Ceni confused speed and precipitation.
« We noticed that there is a very slow operation and a lack of mastery of these new machines by the data entry operators. It was seen almost everywhere. More than 50% of registration centers were not open. Those that were open, there may not have been enough agents, no equipment. In some places, the equipment was seen arriving by taxi. We feel that this operation was launched in haste. »
« amateur management » for the opposition
For its part, the opposition goes even further and already denounces the existence of fictitious enrollment centers. Luc Malembe, Lamuka coalition communicator. “ We give you the example of the city of Matadi in Kongo Central, out of 35 registration centers that the Ceni has published, our teams have made the rounds, we have found only 22 centers. All the rest are dwelling houses, fictitious centers. So the scenario of an enrollment process scheduled to fail has already started. Management is amateurish, organization is chaotic ».
According to observers, it takes about twenty minutes on average to register a voter. This is four times more than expected. The opposition is already asking for a 30-day extension of the enrollment operation. As for the leaders of the CENI, they remain optimistic for the continuation of the operations. ” It’s just ignition delays. “, they specify.
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