DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Confusion, not conflict, slows voting in remote eastern villages as millions of Congolese flock to vote in their first free elections in four decades

Millions of Congolese flocked to vote in their first free elections in four decades on Sunday (July 30), hoping to put an end to years of war, corruption and chaos that have brought the mineral-rich African giant to its knees. Protected by the biggest peacekeeping operation in the world, the polls in Democratic Republic of Congo were the most complex and expensive ever organised by the United Nations at a cost of 460 million U.S dollars. From the sprawling capital Kinshasa to the jungles of the Congo River basin and the mist-shrouded peaks of the east, voters braved threats of violence from marauding rebels, bureaucratic hitches and rain to cast their ballots. But it was confusion, not conflict, that dogged voting in remote eastern villages as residents grappled with the unfamiliar routine of marking their choice on ballot papers. Some voters in Kinshasa were confused by the multi-page, poster-sized ballot papers carrying the names of hundreds of parliamentary candidates. Turnout was heavy in the violence-plagued east, where President Joseph Kabila was hoping for strong support to keep his job as head of state which he took over when his father Laurent was assassinated in 2001. He is favourite to win. "This is the most important day in the history of our country, since 1960. It's a victory for the people, who have suffered. There you have it. I believe that this day will mark a victory for our country and our people," Kabila said after casting his vote. So eager were some Congolese to cast their first vote, that they almost overwhelmed several polling stations as voters turned out in large numbers. "I'm happy because it is the first time since I was born that I can vote democratically and with transparency. It's a great pleasure," said voter Toms Libenga. Congolese police and blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers guarded the schools, churches and tents that had been transformed into 50,000 polling stations for more than 25 million voters. More than 17,000 U.N. peacekeepers -- backed by 1,000 European Union soldiers -- are deployed across the country, which is the size of Western Europe but has few roads. "I came early because I love my country and we want peace," said 40 year-old Barbara Asha, voting at the eastern town of Goma. Apart from incidents in the south central diamond mining province of East Kasai, where a polling station was burned and voters were threatened, voting was generally peaceful, orderly and enthusiastic, according to witnesses, election officials and U.N. radio. ''I would hesitate to declare anything successful until it's done, but so far so good. So far, actually, so very good. This is not to say there haven't been problems, of course there are problems, there are 50 000 of these voting stations across the country," said Ross Mountain, a United Nations deputy special representative for Congo. Prisoners were among those casting ballots in the election in which Kabila faces 31 challengers including several former rebel leaders who fought the Kabilas in a 1998-2003 war that devastated the former Belgian colony already crippled by 32 years of misrule under dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. "It is the result of nine years of struggle, of political struggle in my country for a new political order in Congo. Today is, for me, a very important day. I can say that my mission is achieved but, of course, now I am waiting for the support of the people of Congo to turn the page and to bring the Congo to a new philosophy," said presidential hopeful Jean-Pierre Bemba who criticised the election for "irregularities". Such complaints have raised the risk that the results, expected within three weeks, could be rejected by some losers. In Goma, election officials could be seen counting the ballots careful - holding them up one by one in front of an audience of monitors. The polls are the culmination of a three-year peace process following the last Congo war that sucked in neighbouring states and killed 4 million people, mostly from hunger and disease. Voters said they hoped the elections would finally bring peace and democracy to the vast, mineral-rich former Belgian colony, which has seen little of either since it became independent in 1960.

ITN Source | July 31, 2006

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