Tshisekedi held "inauguration"

And it just keeps getting more interesting...

Today, Friday, Etienne Tshisekedi was sworn in to office, or he gave an oath to be a democratic president, in his home, since he is claiming to be the president of the DR Congo.

DR. Congo's Tshisekedi takes 'presidential oath' - AFP
DR Congo police block entry to Tshisekedi inauguration - BBC News
SMS Messaging Suspended Until Further Notice - Eurasia Review

It's frustrating that text messaging is still not working in the country. It's hard for our friends to communicate with one another... In a country where phone calls are not very cheap, sending text messages can sometimes be the most affordable means of communication.

We need to continue to pray for the country, it's leaders, police, politicians and the international community... To act justly, with mercy and love for the Congolese people.

Maybe today?

Thanksgiving dinner, 2011

Please check out my colleague Chelsie's blog with an update on the elections. Chelsie Frank in the Congo:

I want to ask you to take time to pray for peace and justice to reign in the DRC. There is an African Swahili proverb that says, “When and where two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled. (Wapiganapo tembo, nyasi huumia.)” May God protect the civilians, thwart plans of wicked people seeking to benefit from instability, give wisdom to those in power, bring stabilizing pressure at a macro/international level, and strengthen Congolese democracy.

Also, Jason Stearns updated some vote figures... It's interesting, for sure. Go to his blog by clicking here.

Averting Disaster in the Congo - Huffington Post - blog by Ben Affleck, Cindy McCain and Anthony W. Gambino

Today is supposed to be the day when the election results are announced. It seems likely that whether just or not (as Adam Nossiter of the NY Times indicates in After Vote, Congo Braces for Expressions of Discord), Kabila will win the election.

Not so surprising to most. But still disappointing to many. So we continue to wait for the official results.

Please keep on praying for our friends and colleagues in the DR Congo.

Thank you.
Bethany


Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!!!! I love you both so much!!! 

Another 48 Hours...

North Kivu, January, 2010

...Until the results will be released. 
Or so they say.
So we continue to wait.


In the meantime, Pray for:

Calm and peace in Beni after shootings yesterday morning. They were (likely) not election-related. But it initially caused a lot of alarm among the population during the early hours of the morning. 
(Roughly) translated into English from Radio Okapi Beni: 3 dead and 3 injured in clashes between FARDC and ADF-Nalu, the article is posted here in case you do not have a translation program in your browser:

Three people were killed and three others injured Tuesday, December 6 this morning at Beni in North Kivu, in the clashes between the FARDC and the Mai-Mai militia Ruwenzori associated with Ugandan rebels of the ADF-NALU. Calm has returned to this city and military authorities assured that the situation was under control. 

Two attackers were killed and another wounded, said Colonel Ngeleka Celestin, the spokesperson of "Operation Safisha Ruwenzori," responsible for the disarmament of the rebels of the ADF-NALU. Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) had two injuries in their ranks, the source said. 

An independent source confirmed that an officer of the Directorate of Revenue of North Kivu (DGNRK) was also killed and another National Fund for road maintenance (Foner), seriously injured in Mabolio area south-west Beni. 

It is in this area that the Ugandan rebels of the ADF-NALU and the Mai-Mai Rwenzori launched early this Tuesday, December 6, their assault on FARDC positions in the city. According to Colonel Ngeleka Celestin, the attackers have besieged the areawhere is the Beni central prison. " They wanted to attack the State Police Headquarters and the dungeon of the military prosecutor's office to release all prisoners , "he said. 
Beni was like a ghost town after the clashes, witnesses said. 

The mayor of Beni, Masumuko Bwanakawa called the local population for calm and go about her normal activities. 

Since last Friday, Beni was already under heavy military guard. Sunday, December 4th, the army was on high alert following the leaflets dropped in the city announcing an imminent attack by the rebels of the ADF-NALU.

Pray for the entire country, as we found out late last night that the results will not be posted until Thursday.

DR Congo election results delayed by 48 hours - BBC News 

Congo's delayed election results raise fears of a return to war - The Guardian

     This article focuses mainly on what's going on in the capital, Kinshasa.  

ICC watching DRC vote - Independent Online

Democratic Republic of Congo: Failed but hopeful - Huffington Post

Beyond Elections in the Congo - Canadian International Council 

With tensions high, people are still hoping for a peaceful reception of the results. Since there are lots of soldiers stationed throughout the cities and country-side, it's hard to know how or if that will even be possible. 

Congolese men and women in other cities around the world have been demonstrating against corruption, rigging and fraudulent vote results in the DR Congo. Unfortunately, some of these protests have turned violent.

DR Congo protesters clash with police in London - AFP 

DR Congo protests flare in Canada - AFP

As a dear friend in Beni told me, the biggest concern is for Kinshasa and what will happen there... Whenever the results are announced. So pray for Kinshasa and the citizens there. 



Pray for the people of the DR Congo; pray for peace, freedom, safety, justice, and the future of this country. 

Of course, there are delays...

North Kivu, 10 January 2009

...So results may not even be released today.
Or some may be announced.
Who knows.

We're still waiting!

Congo scrambles to tally votes as tensions mount - Reuters

"Partial preliminary results issued so far, representing nearly 70 percent of the ballots cast, give Kabila a 10-point lead over his chief rival, Etienne Tshisekedi."

Congo's crucial crossroads - CNN blog

"With up to 20% of polling places subject to irregularities, including election violations, with the counting process also filled with irregularities and disorganization, and with little confidence in the neutrality and impartiality of the central Congolese organizations responsible for certifying the elections how can the Congolese ever establish in a reasonable fashion who they chose to be their next President?"

"In DR Congo, Kabila finally comes of age"

More articles and updates for you....

But first, my favorite one so far! I just had to post this one:

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000047793&cid=349
In DR Congo, Kabila finally comes of age - The Standard (Kenya)
By Peter Wanyonyi

It is not for nothing that African presidents are described as ‘big’ men. Few elective positions in the world confer upon an individual the kind of power, prestige and money that an African gets by becoming leader of his or her country.

Whisper this quietly, too, but since African leaders are always men, save for those confused Liberians, being president also provides unfettered access to fellow citizens of the fairer gender.

In the pantheon of Africa’s Big Men, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Joseph Kabila has largely been a benign, reluctant presence. Unlike many of his peers, he didn’t come to power via a coup, a bush war or rigged elections. He inherited his position when a trusted bodyguard summarily dispatched his father to the other world. 

He was a slow learner, President Joseph Kabila. But no one can blame him. After all, he wasn’t even married when he became president of the DRC and as every villager knows, precious little can be expected of a man without a woman in the house. But as soon as a woman steps into a man’s world, matters change rapidly for the better. Focus is acquired, ambitions to own things suddenly materialise, and a ruthless pursuit of happiness ensues, driven by the needs of the real boss — Madam. 

Mad men

And so it is that President Kabila is finally coming of age. Pressed into agreeing to an allegedly democratic vote by his budget support partners, President Kabila finally acceded to elections, which are currently ongoing.

But the DRC is a strange place. Even mad men will wonder why a country that is wealthier than any other on earth — at least in terms of natural resources — should need budgetary support. After all, what is so difficult about digging holes in the ground, hauling minerals out of them and spreading them on the market. 

To be fair, though, President Kabila was willing to go along with the faÁade of democratic elections until someone — some say from South East Asia with an eye on the minerals of the DRC — whispered things into the Presidential ear. 

Whereupon the opposition candidate, who looked like he was making a fair shake of grabbing actual votes, discovered to his surprise that he wasn’t really supposed to campaign that hard, because there is no way he could win even if he did garner the most votes. 

You remember Uganda’s Dr Kiiza Besigye, don’t you?

And for a few more links... 

Church leaders warn of pending violence in Democratic Republic of Congo - The Telegraph
Editorial - The Times (South Africa)
Congo’s election commission says President Joseph Kabila leads in early vote results
*Note: I'm not sure where some of the sources for this information came from... But I don't agree with all of it... Especially the "reasons" for the delays in voting... Porters carrying the ballots on their heads? What about all of those planes we read about (how many were there?), which were rented to deliver ballots all over the country? 
Congo opposition rejects early presidential vote results - Reuters
Congo Siasa - Jason Stearns' blog

DR Congo opposition leader issues warning over vote tally

More reasons to continue to pray for the DR Congo...

http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2011/12/dr-congo-opposition-leader-issues-warning-over-vote-tally/
DR Congo opposition leader issues warning over vote tally
December 4, 2011


KINSHASA, Dec 4 - Veteran DR Congo opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi on Saturday issued a veiled threat of fresh violence after saying he rejected early election results showing President Joseph Kabila ahead.

Veteran DR Congo opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi /AFP

Monday’s vote, just the second since back-to-back wars that gripped the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1996 to 2003, was marred by deadly violence and rioting at polling centres and the long wait for results has been filled with tensions.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) released updated results Saturday showing Kabila ahead of Tshisekedi by 51 percent to 34 percent, with 33 percent of polling centres counted.

But the tally included more of the incumbent’s traditional strongholds in the restive central African country than those of his main rival.

Tshisekedi said his party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), had a warning for Kabila and CENI chief Daniel Ngoy Mulunda.

“I’m warning Mr Ngoy Mulunda that the UDPS not only rejects these results, but warns Mr Ngoy Mulunda and Mr Kabila to respect the will of the Congolese people in publishing the results that will follow,” he said.

“I’m going to say that, if they don’t, they risk committing suicidal acts. I call all our people to stay vigilant so that if needed they can execute the orders I will give them.”

The latest results included 55 percent of polling centres in Katanga province, where Kabila is traditionally popular, but just three percent of polling centres in Kinshasa, where Tshisekedi has strong support.

The other nine candidates were trailing far behind. Ex-national assembly speaker Vital Kamerhe was in third place with five percent.

Provisional results were originally not expected until Tuesday, but the CENI decided to release early returns from Friday, saying it wanted to staunch the flood of rumours and false reports about the count.

It said it would again provide a new update Sunday. The supreme court is due to declare a final official result from the race on December 17.

The long wait for the outcome has filled with speculation, conspiracy theories and dirty tricks.

The CENI said its website had been hacked Friday and fake results showing Tshisekedi in the lead were briefly posted there. 

On the streets of Kinshasa, a table of results purportedly from the non-existent International Democracy Observatory showed Kabila up by 22 points.

As a host of election-related rumours circulated by text message, SMS service crashed Friday evening in Kinshasa.

Rumours immediately emerged that the government had ordered cell phone operators to interrupt text messaging — speculation the government and leading mobile company Vodacom both denied.

But an interior ministry source told AFP Saturday that the government had in fact ordered cell phone operators to block texting services indefinitely “because of the diffusion of false results.”

Adding to the charged atmosphere, Human Rights Watch said Friday that election-related violence had killed at least 18 civilians.

The New York-based rights group said most of the victims were shot dead by Kabila’s presidential guard near the capital’s main airport during a crackdown on Tshisekedi supporters who had gathered for his final campaign rally Saturday.

Other civilians were killed and wounded during clashes between rival parties, attacks by armed groups and mob violence, HRW said.

The government said Saturday it had ordered a military inquiry into the report.

“(The government) wants to get to the bottom of this story, and insistently asks HRW to hand in all elements and information in its possession, which is an obligation under Congolese law, so that punishments can be imposed if necessary,” said government spokesman and communications minister Lambert Mende.

Earlier, Mende had told AFP: “There wasn’t a single person killed or wounded” near the airport.

He acknowledged some of the report’s findings, but accused HRW of making “gratuitous accusations” against the presidential guard, which he said fired shots in the air to disperse a hostile crowd.

The UN Security Council added its voice Friday to the multiplying calls for peace, saying “all candidates should maintain a calm and peaceful environment, exercise restraint, await the results… and resolve their differences peacefully."

Election Day

Today. November 28th, 2011.

Congolese are going to the voting polls in their communities to vote for the leaders they hope to see in office. 

We don't know how this will happen. 

People are anxious. Nervous. 

What will happen?

And when results are announced, on December 6th, what will happen? 

This is Jason Stearns' blog again, with a gut-wrenching post from last night, quoted in part:

Accusations of election irregularities have proliferated over the past days - first, observers noticed that hundreds of polling stations either didn't exist or had been planned without informing the locales. Then, hundreds of thousands of voters in Ituri and Idjwi (South Kivu) discovered that their names were not on the list of voters. Finally, numberous accusations have emerged of ballot having been found with Kabila's name already checked. 

Argh. The part about the ballots with Kabila's name already checked make me feel so sick to my stomach... 

Our friends in Beni who told us that many people found their names to be missing from the lists at the centers where they registered to vote, have said there is a change... Noé just texted me that CENI (the Congolese electoral commission) is allowing the people to vote but they have to put their names on a list or something... We're not sure what that means / if their votes will be counted. But we'll see. 

Below are a few news articles for you to read... To be more aware of what is being said in the area as voters are going to the polls (if the polls are still there, which is one thing we're hearing from Beni - some of the polls aren't there anymore).

BBC News - DR Congo votes amid fears of violence
Al Jazeera - DR Congo votes
VOA - Electoral Commission Says DR Congo '99% Ready'
Congo Planet - Congolese start voting in landmark elections
BBC News - Profiles of Kabila, Tshisekedi and Kamerhe
Al Jazeera News: What elections mean to us

Please do keep praying for Congo today... And these coming weeks as we wait for the results to be published.

The voting stations or polls opened early this morning, and will supposedly stay open until the voters have finished. I don't know what that means exactly but today will be a long day for many! 

Please pray for our students, teachers, staff, friends and family in the DR Congo. And that this process will make the way to a new future for the country.

Elections are getting interesting...

Congolese candidate Tshisekedi declares himself president

In interview, presidential candidate Tshisekedi says majority of Congolese have turned against President Kabila; so from today on, he is the president of Congo

By Jason K. Stearns, Guest blogger / November 8, 2011

In an interview broadcast Sunday evening on Radio Lisanga TV, a station close to the opposition, Etienne Tshisekedi stirred controversy and radicalized the tone of the election campaign when he declared himself president of Congo today.
 
I have transcribed and translated what I could hear of the interview in the below clip. Speaking from South Africa, where he has reportedly been since the beginning of the election campaign 10 days ago, he denied that the Congolese government had refused his plane a landing permission, thereby contradicting his own party spokesman.
 
He went on to say that President Kabila had no support, that only his wife is still with him. Most controversially, he self-proclaimed himself president of the Congo, starting today, because, he said, the majority of the people was with him.

In another part of the interview that I haven't yet heard myself, he is reported to have said: "I call on supporters (combattants) everywhere in the country to go to the prisons, to break down the doors and to liberate my supporters." He continued: "I'm giving a 48-hour deadline for all opposition prisoners to be released. Past that deadline, I will ask the population to attack prisons and free them, and as president, I'm ordering prison guards not to resist."
 
He was apparently referring to his supporters who had been arrested during recent demonstrations. This prompted the government to shut down the TV station, which belongs to the opposition MP and former rebel leader Roger Lumbala.
 
The UDPS confirmed that the interview was authentic.

Later, on the BBC Swahili service, I heard a UDPS representative explaining the interview, saying that, "It is normal for a candidate to boast like this."Roger Lumbala himself argued that Tshisekedi was referring to Kabila's slogan "With Rais [Kabila's nickname]...100 percent certain," saying that it was he and not Kabila who was sure to win.
 
 This interview has already caused controversy on the Internet and in the streets of Kinshasa.
 
Tshisekedi has been criticized for spending a third of the short election month abroad seeking funds and transport in South Africa, while his competitors campaign at home. It may be that this absence and the lack of funds prompted him to radicalize his message and to openly seek confrontation. Will his supporters take to the streets tomorrow? Will the government take further legal action against the UDPS or RLTV?
 
 Here is the speech:
 
 Translation:

 "Those who say that Kabila prevented my plane from landing do not understand the situation. Kabila no longer represents anyone, but his wife. People like Boshab [president of the national assembly] and Mende [minister of information], who started elsewhere and talk with both sides of the mouth, say one thing during the day and another at night, have now abandoned him. He is alone with his wife, as you can see. So I say we need not wait for the elections. In a democracy, power rests with the popular majority. Since the majority of the Congolese people is with Tshisekedi and trusts Tshisekedi, from now on, I am the Head of State. Regarding the elections, my message is simple as I have said. Starting today, it’s the Congolese people who are the authority of the country. It’s Tshisekedi Etienne, no one else. If Mr. Ngoy Mulunda does not listen to what we are saying, he will be weeping in his native language come December 6 [the date election results are announced]."

Jason K. Stearn, an expert on the Democratic Republic of Congo, blogs at Congo Siasa and is author of the book "Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa."

The article can be found on the Christian Science Monitor here: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1108/Congolese-candidate-Tshisekedi-declares-himself-president