Marie Josée IFOKU: A committed candidate for the presidency of the DRC
In the race for the supreme office of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a candidate stands out for her commitment and her disruptive vision. Marie Josée IFOKU, President of the Alliance of Elites for a New Congo (AENC), is the first woman to enter the presidential race. Her candidacy file was registered at the Application Reception and Processing Office (BRTC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) and she had the opportunity to speak with the President of the CENI, Denis KADIMA KAZADI.
During her meeting with the press, Marie Josée IFOKU presented her political vision, based on the idea of “kombolization”. This concept comes from the word “kombo” which means “broom” in Lingala. For her, it is time to clean up the anti-values and bad practices that plague Congolese society. She wishes to break with the system of predation which has prevailed since the country’s independence and proposes a vision of rebirth for the DRC.
The candidate explains her vision of the rupture as follows: “The rupture in question here alludes to the independence of the Congo which was marked by a system of predation. We want to break with this system through our vision of kombolization.” She believes that the Congolese people have been prey to leaders for too long and that it is time to put an end to this situation.
Marie Josée IFOKU also stressed the importance of a transparent CENI and good elections to put an end to legitimacy crises. She symbolically offered her support to President Denis KADIMA KAZADI by presenting him with a ballet, thus expressing her confidence in the upcoming electoral process.
With her candidacy, Marie Josée IFOKU joins the Congolese political landscape as a committed woman and bearer of a vision of change. His desire to cleanse anti-values and break with the system of predation gives him a unique position among presidential candidates. It remains to be seen how his candidacy will be perceived by voters and what impact it will have on the conduct of the elections scheduled for December 20, 2023.