DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: War-weary Congolese flock to vote in historic poll

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. 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. Some voters in Kinshasa were confused by the multi-page, poster-sized ballot papers carrying the names of hundreds of parliamentary candidates. 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. Standing against Kabila are 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 "irregularities". Such complaints have raised the risk that the results, expected within three weeks, could be rejected by some losers. 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. Congo has one third of the world's cobalt reserves, as well as copper, gold and diamonds. However, it has known little but war and dictatorship since independence in 1960.

ITN Source | July 30, 2006

Tags:. .threatened. .african. .decades. .incidents. .transformed