Zimpapers Logo

Innocent Madonko in MBUJI-MAYI, DRC

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi has vowed to bring peace to the eastern part of his country, which has been engulfed in conflict pitting rival groups for decades.

March 23 Movement (M23) rebels have been unleashing an orgy of violence in North Kivu and in eastern Goma, displacing thousands of people and creating a catastrophic humanitarian situation.

Their clashes with Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) in territories near the Ugandan and Rwandan borders, have escalated tensions in the region and led to massive loss of lives.

Addressing supporters of his ruling Union for Democracy and Social Progress party in Mbuji-Mayi city, the capital of Kasai-Oriental Province during a campaign rally on Tuesday, President Tshisekedi said it was time for the people of the DRC to open their eyes and realise that their country was under siege.

The DRC holds general elections on December 20 and President Tshisekedi faces a stiff challenge to his rule from millionaire businessman, Mr Moise Katumbi, and Mr Martin Fayulu, who came second in the 2018 presidential poll.

“Our country is being heavily fought and the Congolese must stand up and defend their homeland,” said President Tshisekedi to cheers from a crowd made up of people from his home province.

Speaking in the local Luba-Kasai language, the President accused some of the presidential candidates of colluding with the country’s detractors.

“The enemies of our country are found among the presidential candidates. They will be here soon, so be careful.”

“You know very well the war raging in the east of our country.

“But I am determined to fight to overcome the insecurity in the east of our country,” he said.

President Tshisekedi said should he be re-elected for a second and final five-year term, he will improve the conditions of service for the security forces.

“During my second term, we will improve the conditions of our police and army because we must be strong to face our enemies.

“I am committed to continuing our programme for 145 territories as well as free secondary and primary school.”

Speaking to journalists from the SADC region on the sidelines of the rally, DRC Minister of Communications and Media, Mr Patrick Muyaya Katembwe, said the country was prepared to hold the December 20 polls despite some challenges.

“We have been preparing for his election for months and we believe we will be ready despite the fact that there are huge challenges because the country is vast.

“First of all, we have a problem of infrastructure but the Electoral Commission is doing its best and the Government is providing all the necessary resources to make sure everything is in place on time.

“We are optimistic and waiting to see the Congolese coming out in their millions on Wednesday next week to vote for their President, Member of Parliament and councillor,” he said.

Mr Katembwe said organising an election is not easy for a country like the DRC as there are more than 100 000 candidates for the different categories.

The situation was also complicated by the conflict in eastern DRC where more than 1,5 million people in areas occupied by the M23 rebels will not be able to vote.

DRC Finance Minister, Nicolas Kazadi, said since coming to power in 2019, the administration of President Tshisekedi had done a lot to improve the standard of living for ordinary Congolese people.

“The effort that we are putting to lure investment is huge. We have also done a lot in education, free primary education, free health for pregnant women. We have increased what we pay in terms of salaries for civil servants. We have also been able to lower the poverty rate by 10 percentage points.

“During the last three years, the poverty line was around 70 percent of the people, meaning 70 percent of our people were considered poor. Now we are at 62 percent.

“This is a big change, so we cannot say nothing has been done to raise the living standards. But we all agree a lot more needs to be done to improve access to clean water and energy,” said Minister Kazadi.

The peaceful transfer of power from the Joseph Kabila administration to President Tshisekedi in 2019 and the subsequent maintenance of peace and stability had improved the country’s credit rating and attracted investors.

“Three main rating agencies have improved the notation of the DRC and this shows a huge improvement in terms of governance. Our objective is not to limit investment to the mining sector but to attract people who will help us diversify our economy.

“It means industry, it means agriculture, that is our main objective. The profile of the country has changed now and people are seeing Congo as an investment opportunity not only for speculation,” said Mr Kazadi.