{"id":22569,"date":"2019-01-18T23:47:09","date_gmt":"2019-01-18T23:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jww.org\/?p=22569"},"modified":"2019-01-18T23:47:09","modified_gmt":"2019-01-18T23:47:09","slug":"congos-election-drama-african-leaders-take-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/congos-election-drama-african-leaders-take-stand\/","title":{"rendered":"Congo\u2019s election drama: African leaders take a stand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Things were not looking good for the future of democracy in Congo yesterday, after African Heads of State convened at a summit in Addis Ababa to discuss the DRC\u2019s contentious elections. \u00a0While, at first, African leaders seemed unwilling to stand up to Congolese President Joseph Kabila and to question the duplicitous tactics of the Electoral Commission (CENI), that very same day brought an unexpected turning of the tide.<\/span><\/p>\n

SADC Summit in Ethiopia<\/b><\/h2>\n

Meeting under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)–a consortium of 16 member states, including Congo, established to promote sustainable development and good governance throughout the region–the \u201cdouble troika\u201d meeting brought together leaders from Namibia, Angola, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. \u00a0While the mere existence of the meeting breathed hope into the tenses predicament in the Congo, where one opposition candidate has been declared the winner of the presidential election, while another actually won the vote, the hope for legitimate scrutiny and regional pressure to respect rule of law was soon lost.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the meeting was concluded, the SADC, chaired by Dr. Hage G. Geingob, President of Namibia, released a disappointing <\/span>Communiqu\u00e9<\/span><\/a> that exemplified not only others\u2019 unwillingness to go up against Kabila but also the deep web of corruption that makes respecting the rule of law, human rights, and democracy in autocratic, kleptocratic regimes an extraordinary challenge. \u00a0Instead of pressuring the Constitutional Court to release the voting records, admit that Felix Tshisekedi, the declared winner, was not the actual victor, or call for a recount, the SADC <\/span>declined to criticize<\/span><\/a> Congo\u2019s election process, despite empirical evidence of immense and pervasive electoral fraud. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leaked polling data<\/span><\/a> has shown that opposition leader Martin Fayulu was the clear winner of the Dec 30 vote and that Tshisekedi should have finished a distant second. \u00a0Instead of addressing this head on, the SADC instead congratulated the electoral commission on its organization of the vote. \u201cWe believe the situation in the DRC has been managed and handled well and international constitutional processes are ongoing,\u201d said the Communique. \u00a0\u201cAny electoral grievances must be addressed in line with the DRC constitution and relevant electoral law.\u201d Chastising the international community for inserting itself in Congo\u2019s affairs and, therefore, disrespecting its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the SADC essentially told the rest of the world to butt out and leave things to Congo\u2019s Constitutional Court, whose judges–notably–were appointed by Kabila. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The SADC\u2019s position effectively reduced the likelihood of any multilateral intervention in the Congo should the constitutional court validate Tshisekedi without actually proving his victory. Disappointingly, it further entrenched the longstanding practice of African leaders\u2019 commending whatever other members of the boys\u2019 club do, even when they know it is tainted. Numerous Congolese activists contacted me, absolutely despondent about the group\u2019s refusal to act, but only a few hours later, there came an unexpected surprise.<\/span><\/p>\n

The African Union Weighs In<\/b><\/h2>\n

Later on Jan 17, and also in Addis Ababa, the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) and President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, leaders of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), and the SADC came together for another high-level meeting on the DRC\u2019s presidential, national, and provincial elections. \u00a0Somehow, despite the presence of many of the same SADC member states at this gathering of African power elites, the Heads of State and Government attending the meeting \u201cconcluded that there were serious doubts on the conformity of the provisional results, as proclaimed by the National Independent Electoral Commission, with the verdict of the ballot boxes.\u201d \u00a0Accordingly, the Heads of State called for the <\/span>suspension<\/span><\/a> of the proclamation of the final results of the elections! \u00a0According to newspaper Jeune Afrique, after initial deliberations, there was \u201cno doubt\u201d for any of the high-level participants that the real winner of the Dec 30 election is Martin Fayulu.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, they did not confine their involvement to mere words, they followed up with a prescribed action. \u00a0The Heads of State agreed to dispatch a high-level delegation to the DRC next Monday, Jan 21, with the mission of ending the post-electoral crisis in the country. \u00a0The delegation will be comprised of Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Moussa Faki Mahamat (Chair of the African Union Commission), Hage Geingob (Namibia), Edgar Lungu (Zambia), and Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa). \u00a0<\/span>Jeune Afrique<\/span><\/a> reports that these Heads of State will present Kabila with a tough choice: either tell CENI to proclaim Fayulu the victor, or hold a new, inclusive elections, in which exiled opponents would be able to run. \u00a0In the latter case, the new election should be run by an interim government without Kabila\u2019s involvement. <\/span><\/p>\n

My sources tell me that President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda played a large part in convincing participants to speak up and take action. \u00a0He exhibited videos of massacres in the eastern DRC, telling his fellow leaders that they can no longer stand idly by in the face of such baseless bloodshed, which he fears could devolve into a genocide. \u00a0Jeune Afrique reports that the leaders of Angola and Zambia were also steadfast in their admonition of Kabila\u2019s corrupt maneuverings. Jewish World Watch commends these leaders for taking a stand and calling for transparency and an end to the mass atrocities, which have gone unchecked by Kabila and plagued the Congolese people for far too long.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are we doing about it?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Several American politicians have spoken out against the announcement of Tshisekedi\u2019s fraudulent win, but a clear plan from the Administration is still wanting. \u00a0The State Department joined several world leaders last Wednesday in warning Kabila that it would \u201chold accountable those who\u2026.undermine democratic processes.\u201d In addition to threatening possible sanctions against Kabila and his retinue, the State Department called on the electoral commission to ensure that the final declared results reflect the true will of the Congolese people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several members of Congress have put their weight behind calls for transparency and rule of law, as well. \u00a0Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Chris Coons (D-DE), both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a<\/span> joint statement<\/span><\/a> calling for restoration of the internet and phone services, transparent election results, a cessation of violence, and the peaceful and democratic transfer of power. \u00a0Los Angeles Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, also articulated her concerns, issuing a <\/span>statement<\/span><\/a> reminding the Congolese government that \u201cviolence does not have to be inevitable.\u201d \u00a0The newly-minted Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Eliot Engel, took the most proactive <\/span>position<\/span><\/a>, by calling on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to provide the Committee with information on how the State Department is working to ensure that the election results are confirmed transparently and according to Congolese laws and regulations so that the new president will have the confidence of the nation. \u00a0Chairman Engel also pledged to revisit the Democratic Republic of the Congo Democracy and Accountability Act (<\/span>H.R. 6207<\/span><\/a>), which JWW advocated for vigorously, and which the House passed in November 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jewish World Watch and our Congolese partners are grateful for these expressions of concern, solidarity, and democratic principles. \u00a0It means a tremendous amount to the people of the Congo that lawmakers in the United States are watching, caring, and giving voice to their concerns. \u00a0However, as Senator Engel made patently clear, now is the time for action. Particularly since African leaders have joined together and began the process of pushing for accountability, it is prime time for the United States to offer its support and deliver on its promises. \u00a0Especially in light of the passage of the Democracy and Accountability Act, which provided for increased sanctions against disruptors of free and fair elections, the Trump Administration cannot remain silent and impotent in the face of this critical turning point for the future of the Congo. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the most important election in Congo\u2019s history, and we must do our part as a country to elevate the voices of the war-beleaguered, rights-deprived Congolese people who yearn for change and functioning government so desperately. \u00a0Despite America\u2019s recent tendencies to turn inward and involve ourselves less in the affairs of other countries, the fate of the DRC has serious and profound implications for not just the Great Lakes Region, but all of Africa, where Islamic fundamentalism is spreading at an alarming rate–a phenomenon that Washington surely takes interest in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Please join Jewish World Watch in amplifying our call to action. \u00a0Contact the White House and tell President Trump now is the time to deliver on our nation\u2019s promise of helping to realize a free and just DRC. \u00a0African neighbors have taken the lead, now we must follow. We cannot underestimate the importance of America\u2019s involvement to the people of the DRC. \u00a0If we are truly a democracy, we must help the people of the DRC realize the dream of having their very own.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Things were not looking good for the future of democracy in Congo yesterday, after African Heads of State convened at a summit in Addis Ababa to discuss the DRC\u2019s contentious elections. \u00a0While, at first, African leaders seemed unwilling to stand up to Congolese President Joseph Kabila and to question the duplicitous tactics of the Electoral…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131,188],"tags":[130,426],"class_list":["post-22569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drc","category-news-features","tag-democratic-republic-of-the-congo","tag-election","category-131","category-188","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jww.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}