CONGO OPPOSITION: Cancel The Election Owing To Widespread Fraud; Arrest Kadima For Electoral Malpractice As Protests Begin
A consortium of opposition parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo has called for the cancellation of the 2023 presidential and legislative election citing widespread fraud.
Led by opposition leader Moise Katumbi, the four opposition leaders have also called for the resignation of CENI president Denis Kadima for deliberately organizing a chaotic election to grant his Kasai relative President Felix Tshisekedi the win.
The four opposition leaders include Moise Katumbi, Augustin Matata Ponyo Mapon, Seth Kikuni, Delly Sesanga and Franck Diongo.
This comes hours after another set of opposition leaders that include Martin Fayulu and Dr. Denis Mukwege signed a call for protest to dispute the fraudulent results being announced.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT
POLITICAL DECLARATION ON THE FRAUD THAT tainted the ballots of DECEMBER 20, 2023
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We, presidential candidates of the Republic, signatories of this declaration, after having examined the detailed reports of our electoral centers, electoral observation missions, journalists and civil society, confirm all the grievances formulated, in our declaration of December 21, 2023, against the botched and fraudulent voting process of last December 20. With this new evidence brought to our attention, we declare the following:
1/ To ensure the success of the massive ballot stuffing, the CENI deployed various strategies aimed at reducing the presence of opposition witnesses, by preventing them from accessing the polling stations or by dislodging them there. These strategies also consisted of: (i) the late opening of polls and the extension of voting over several days in violation of the electoral law;
(ii) the distribution of voting machines to supporters, executives and organizations affiliated with the sacred union of the nation;
(iii) the organization of voting in political party headquarters and in military camps;
(iv) pre-configuration of machines with stocks of votes favorable to the outgoing president. Indeed, in many cases, the machines were not initialized in front of witnesses as required by law but rather from the CENI branches;
( v) the acceptance of voting without a legible voter card;
(vi) the intimidation of voters by activists from the camp of the outgoing president in several polling stations across the country;
(vii) the use of methods traditional stuffing;
(viii) enormous delays in the delivery of electoral resources to limit participation in favor of manipulation of the process of compiling the results; ix) the use throughout the country of non-binding ballot boxes sealed.
2/ This Machiavellian system of planned fraud allowed the CENI to print minutes falsely giving the outgoing president the winner in areas where he actually obtained no votes. From then on, the publication of results polling station by polling station no longer has any credibility. It becomes theatrical, the game having been distorted, the votes counted and recorded in the minutes not being those expressed by the people, and the integrity of the entire process irreversibly compromised.
3/ Faced with this unacceptable situation, we call for the immediate cancellation of these chaotic elections, marred by massive fraud as documented by all stakeholders.
4/ We also call for the immediate resignation of the President of the CENI, and his indictment as well as the other members of the office, for having planned and orchestrated the worst electoral fraud that our country has ever known and having deprived millions of Congolese of their right to vote. Consequently, we do not accept the simulacra of the results which will result from this process and the Institutions which would result from it, in violation of the spirit and the letter of the Constitution of February 18, 2006.
5/ We urge the Congolese population to mobilize massively throughout the national territory to defend their right to vote.
Done in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, December 23, 2023.- DRC News Today