KINSHASA, DRC – As the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) election commission, CENI, faces criticism for its handling of the recent presidential and legislative elections, the commission’s president, Denis Kadima, announced on Friday that they are on track to meet the December 31 deadline for releasing full provisional presidential results.
Despite opposition calls for a rerun of the disputed vote, Kadima dismissed the claims as the response of “bad losers.”
The elections, held on December 20, were marked by logistical challenges, malfunctioning voting machines, and violent incidents, leading to a chaotic poll in Africa’s second-largest country, known for its significant copper and cobalt production.
CENI president Denis Kadima responded to the criticism, stating that the commission is following its legal duty to produce results quickly, defending their reliance on some results from voting machines.
Kadima told Reuters, “The results we are releasing reflect (people’s) choices.”
The independent joint vote-monitoring mission of Congo’s Catholic and Protestant Churches urged CENI to publish results based on correctly consolidated tallies from local centers.
Kadima defended CENI’s approach, stating that allegations of not compiling results in accordance with electoral law are unfounded.
In response to opposition demands for a rerun, Kadima asserted, “They know they lost … they are bad losers. We did everything with the necessary transparency.”
Concerns have been raised about the extension of voting and irregularities reported by independent observers.
Congo set for another Tshisekedi ‘tenure’
The main challenger to President Felix Tshisekedi, who is currently leading in the interim count, has called for a full re-run of the election.
Kadima addressed the accusations of mishandling sensitive election materials, stating that these are limited cases and not done with the blessing of CENI.
He emphasized that those found responsible would be sanctioned.
The ongoing election dispute adds to the challenges faced by Congo, including widespread poverty and security crises in eastern regions.
The contested results have led to unrest in the past, with Wednesday witnessing injuries during a police crackdown on a banned election march.
The opposition has vowed to hold more protests.
The latest CENI preliminary results, updated on Friday, show Tshisekedi leading with over 72% of around 15.9 million votes counted so far.
The commission has not yet disclosed the participation rate of Congo’s 44 million registered voters but has processed the results of 52,173 polling stations out of 75,969, according to its latest tally.
