
A fire has devastated the CENI warehouse in the South Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, jeopardizing the upcoming elections. More than 900 electronic voting devices were destroyed along with other electoral materials. The CENI says this will not prevent the opening of the BRTCs, but investigations are needed to determine the causes of the fire and punish those responsible. There is an urgent need to strengthen the security of electoral infrastructure to avoid such incidents in the future.