Today’s news article highlights the launch of flight crew training by the President of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This training aims to ensure the mobility of electoral materials and agents across the country in preparation for the elections scheduled for December 20, 2023.
CENI recently acquired 28 boats, including large catamarans and solid and reliable walhys, in order to strengthen its deployment capabilities in difficult-to-access areas. Indeed, due to the geographical configuration of the DRC, it is often necessary to use river transport to reach certain villages or towns.
President Denis Kadima Kazadi underlined the importance of these boats in the convoy of electoral materials and CENI agents. He also affirmed that despite some delays in the execution of operations, the date of the elections of December 20, 2023 remains unchanged.
The training of seagoing personnel will mainly focus on practical aspects, with courses on the presentation and operation of boats, technical orientations, safety at sea and ethics of seagoing personnel. The overall objective is to provide the CENI with efficient seagoing personnel capable of guaranteeing efficient deployment of electoral materials and respecting the rules of navigation and boat maintenance.
CENI deputy rapporteur Paul Muhindo explained that these boats will be essential to transport electoral materials from the 4 main hubs to the 255 training sites and more than 75,000 polling stations across the country.
This announcement marks an important step in the electoral process in the DRC and underlines the CENI’s commitment to respecting the election timetable. With these new boats, the CENI is strengthening its capacity to reach the most remote areas of the country, thus guaranteeing fair participation and effective organization of elections.
Source :
-[Link to the original article](https://fatshimetrie.org/blog/2023/10/27/le-president-de-la-ceni-ouverture-des-ceremonies-de-formation-du-personnel- sailing-and-presentation-of-the-new-boats-to-the-public/)