The territories of Rutshuru, Masisi and Kwamouth in the Democratic Republic of Congo face major challenges in voter registration. The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) is still awaiting assurances and security guarantees from the government to be able to begin voter identification and registration operations in these regions.
According to Denis Kadima, president of the CENI, on the technical level, the institution is ready to deploy its teams on the ground and complete the operations within 10 to 14 days. However, in the absence of security improvements, it will become difficult, if not impossible, to enlist the populations of these regions in time for the next elections.
This worrying situation was highlighted by the president of the CENI during a consultation process with women, young people and people living with disabilities. It was also recalled that if no action was taken by October, it would be difficult to recover these populations for the upcoming elections.
This security issue has already been raised by Félix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, during the visit of his Burundian counterpart in August. It is therefore urgent for the government to take measures to guarantee security in these territories and thus allow the smooth running of voter registration operations.
Without a comprehensive registration process, the people of Rutshuru, Masisi and Kwamouth risk finding themselves excluded from participating in the elections. This poses a real challenge in terms of democratic representativeness and underlines the importance of rapid action to resolve security problems in these regions.
In conclusion, it is crucial that the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo commits to providing security guarantees to enable the CENI to register voters in the territories of Rutshuru, Masisi and Kwamouth. This will preserve the integrity of the electoral process and give all stakeholders the confidence to fully participate in the upcoming elections.