for Guinean presidential candidate Alpha Condé in a shoe store owned
by "Ndingaris"--as all West Africans are called here--at the bustling
neighborhood of Place Victoire in the Kalamu Commune.
There are several Guineans in this neighborhood. And I personally know
a young Guinean kebab maker on Oshwe Avenue I've nicknamed General
Dadis Camara. But I thought all of them were only merchants
uninterested in politics.
Hence, my puzzlement...
As I was pondering whether to walk into the shoe store to ask about
the campaign flyer, I saw a bubu-clad "Ndingari" closing it down for
the night, his wife following hard on his heels. When I was about to
talk to the man, his wife started yelling at him in "Ndingari,"
probably warning her husband not to talk to a Kinois crook!
But the man was secure enough to hear me and to brush off his wife's
frantic warning.
"I'm the one who brought Alpha Condé here," the Ndingari told me. "And
I'm convinced he'll win here!"
"Win here?" I asked. "Do you mean you Guinean exiles are going to vote here?"
"Of course," the Ndingari proudly retorted. "We'll vote at our embassy
on Sunday if the runoff isn't postponed yet again!"
This is one political right the Congolese in the diaspora aren't going
to get anytime soon. I don't think the Congolese government isn't
granting this right to the Congolese living abroad for lack of means.
It's simply because politicians of the Alliance of the Presidential
Majority (AMP) are afraid the Congolese in Europe and elsewhere
overseas would vote en masse for the opposition.
***
(Sent via BlackBerry)
0 comments:
Post a Comment