Bloody End of Electoral Campaign in Kinshasa: 10 dead and more than 40 injured

Kinshasa was reeling today from the violence that engulfed the Tshangu constituency Saturday afternoon. By Sunday evening, the death tool stood at 10 "killed by bullets" and more than 40 injured (Radio Okapi).

Tension started flaring up by mid-morning when pro-Kabila and UDPS clashed at the Place du Cinquantenaire, a short distance from the Palais du Peuple, the seat of Parliament. Tshisekedi was slated to hold his rally at the Place du Cinquantenaire, Kabila at Stade des Martyrs (Kinshasa Commune), and Kamerhe at Stade Tata Raphaël (Kalamu Commune)--all these venues are located within a radius of less than 3 km.

With tension rising to fever pitch in those areas--and following hard on the heels of the explosive morning interview of Tshisekedi in which he said that after his inevitable loss Kabila would have but one alternative left: "to go back home to Rwanda"--Kinshasa Governor took the executive decision of canceling all rallies planned in the capital city.

Still according to Radio Okapi and Radio-Trottoir newsfeeds, thousands of pro-Tshisekedi supporters were in the meantime heading for N'Djili Airport where their leader was expected to land in the afternoon from his campaign tour in Bas-Congo. Kabila, who was also coming from Bas-Congo, had landed by that time. On its way downtown, Kabila's motorcade was allegedly pelted with stones and other projectiles by pro-Tshisekedi supporters. The latter then attacked PALU offices by the bridge Pont Matete, on Boulevard Lumumba, on their way to the airport. According to Godefroid Mayobo, a PALU official, three of his party members were killed by Tshisekedi supporters in that attack.

At around 14:00 HRS Kinshasa Time (GMT + 1), Tshisekedi's plane arrived in Kinshasa and was then diverted to the military airport of Ndolo--unbeknown to the UDPS leader. Upon realizing that his plane had been diverted, Tshisekedi, with a sudden rush of hot blood in his brains, decided to drive on his red Hummer to N'Djili Airport to rally his supporters and lead them back to the Place du Cinquantenaire where he was hell-bent on holding his rally despite the Governor's ban!

The police, led by DRC acting top cop Gen Charles Bisengimana, blocked Tshisekedi's convoy from heading back downtown and dispersed the crowd with tear gas, hot water cannons, and shots fired in the air.

A.standoff ensued--with MONUSCO attempting a mediation between the police and Tshisekedi who in the meantime had been led away to the VIP lounge of N'Djili Airport. The standoff lasted till 23:30 HRS with Tshisekedi walking out of the VIP lounge, blasting MONUSCO pro-government bias, and vowing to head to the Place du Cinquantenaire to hold his rally. The police then ordered Tshisekedi's red Hummer driver to drive the UDPS leader to his residence under police escort. When the driver refused to start the Hummer, he was then pulled from the vehicle and subdued by cops, who then took upon themselves to drive Tshisekedi to his Limete residence.

Though the streets were quiet today, tension was still palpable--especially in the Tshangu district--so much so that UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon had issued a call for calm and said that security was the government's responsibility.

Saturday was no doubt the dress rehearsal of the bloody endgame Tshisekedi has in store for the government and the Kinois on December 6, the day when the electoral commission will announce the provisional results of the presidential and legislative elections...

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Live Blog: Ndeko Basile Olongo Pongo is alive and kicking...

Contrary to rumors "Ndeko" (Brother) Basile Olongo Pongo, formerly an anchor of RLTV and currently MP candidate No. 960 0f Funa constituency, is pretty much alive and kicking. I just followed him on RLTV where he was denying the rumor of his assassination...

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Live Blog: Who landed at Ndolo Airport?

21:44 HRS Kinshasa Time (GMT + 1). (Or thereabout.)

Plot now thickens as to who between Kabila and Tshisekedi landed at Ndolo Airport. Another version has Tshisekedi's aircraft landing at Ndolo instead of N'Djili Airport as previously planned. This change of plan, still according to this version, angered so much Tshisekedi he drove to N'Djili to confront airport authorities and pick up his supporters who were awaiting him. Hence, the ensuing scuffles involving UDPS members and the ban on rallies issued by Kin Gov André Kimbuta!...

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LiveBlog: Back home

20:24 HRS Kinshasa Time (GMT + 1) or thereabout... I'am back home now... Funny: was listening to a couple of reports on Konshasa and the Cobgo on BBC. Claims of UDPS standoff with police as the former are alleged to be bent on holding their rally today! That's a lie: it's night time now and there's no way authorities  would allow a rally to be held at night... Despite the donnybrook in Tshangu, Kin is guardedly calm tonighy...

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Live blog

20:33 Kinshasa Time (GMT + 1) or thereabout...

I've just been informed that Kabila's aircraft coming from Bas-Congo Province landed at the smaller military airport of Ndolo--no doubt to avoid Lumumba Boulevard that goes thru Tshisekedi stronghold of Limete...

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Live Blog 2: Hectic end of electoral campaign

Around 17:56 HRS Kinshasa Time.

My London "muzungu/mundele" (as Kinois kept calling this blogger's folliower at this sidewalk bar) buddy did show up. We shared a "Skol" beer while discussing Monday plans  (election day). We took snapshots of a UDPS campaign motorcade. Though Matonge is a abuzz with music, there's an ominous cloud of unease loomong (by the way it's an overcast sky).

While sharing a beer with my British buddy, I got a call from my family urging me to steer clear of Victoire Place in Matonge where there was heaving shooting (where we actually were)..  This was of course a false rumor... A strange overcast day indeed..

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Hectic end of campaign in Kin: Live Blog

16:05 Kin Time--All campaign rallies have been canceled by Kin Gov for fear of violence. PALU members are alleged to have attacked a UDPS motorcade around N'Djili bridge on the road to the airport. I'm in Matonge quarter now waiting for a London follower of this blog.

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Misinformation overdrive, confusion, and lingering questions over Tshisekedi Plane Stories

A Radio-Okapi report posted today--here, Tuesday, November 22--says that Tshisekedi has finally fliown to Mbandaka fron Kindu--without giving any precision on the type of aircraft the UDPS leader boarded.

Pro-Tshisekedi media assert it was the same chartered jet pro-Kabila media alleged to have been recalled to South Africa. (Some readers here think I'm cooking these stories myself. I am not. Media here are so partisan you end up totally misinformed and confused at times.)

Radio-Okapi report did in fact broach the issue of the strange 3-day stay of Tshisekedi in the backwater of Kindu, which fuelled a frenzy of speculation and disinformation in pro-Kabila media--with me as one of the unsuspecting casualties, though this comes with the territory and the buck stops with me, as the saying goes, and I take full responsibity and I apologize for relaying false information. While I don't conceal my utter contempt for Tshisekedi and what he represents, I am not however in the business of producing fake news.

Be that as it may, the fact remains that questions still linger over the Jet Stories of Tshisekedi and the 3 days squandered in Kindu, a hostile environment to Tshisekedi (there are credible reports of "incidents" and "intolerance" against him during his stay in the provincial capital of Maniema).

Anyway, still according to that Radio-Okapi report, one of Tshisekedi's top aides accompanying the UDPS leader on his campaign tour told the press they spent 3 days in Kindu to negotiate another contract for chartering a DC 3 aircraft! Is this a joke or just madness? Four days before the end of the political campaign?

No matter how you want to look at it, this campaign was bungled from the word go!

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1) Dollar plummets against Congolese Franc; 2) Row over phantom polling stations; and 3) Small tribal war in "Chine"

1) Dollar plummets against Congolese Franc


Electoral campaigns have been ravenously gobbling up Congolese Francs--what with MP candidates rounding up passersby in the streets of their constituencies and handing them money and other crazy expenses related to their campaigns (buying beers to bar patrons, distributing.t-shirts, campaign flyers, etc.).

This has resulted in the Congo Democratic Franc (CDF) turning into a hot commodity for "cambistes" (street money changers) and Asian & Chinese shopkeepers. Shopkeepers are shunning these days the dollar, Congo's de facto default currency, preferring to be paid--unbelievably--in hard Congolese currency!

Three days ago, $1 sold for CDF 910 to CDF 920. Yesterday, it went from CDF 870 in the morning down to CDF 850 in the evening. By midday today, the dollar had plummetted to a paltry CDF 800,

This downward spiral of the dollar is hitting poor households pretty bad as merchants have raised prices of basic commodities to shift the burden of their losses to consumers.

"I've never seen something like this," a cambiste whose profits were halved in the past three days told me. "It's going down by the minute. We've already hit the dollar rate of 3 years ago. And if it keeps up the same pace, by the week's end we'd get down to the dollar rate of 5 years ago, which was 400 to 500 Congolese Francs."

But he added that this was hopefully a temporary hectic and articial situation that would correct itself soon after the end of the electoral campaigns.

2) Row over phanton polling stations

The electoral commission is in the midst of yet another controversy, this time over the discovery of phantom polling stations in the "cartography" of polling stations CENI recently published. Some opposition groups and journalists have given CENI Chair Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunda 72 hours (commencing yesterday) to come up with a coherent explanation for those phantom polling stations.  Pro-opposition RLTV, which is airing again after a short ban stemming from the infamous phone interview with Tshisekedi in which the UDPS leader proclaimed himself DRC president, gave evidence of a half-dozen of those phantom polling stations in Kinshasa alone, including bars and private residences whose occupants were flabbergasted to find out that their homes were listed as polling stations, and there was even one instance where CENI cartography gave the address of a polling station on a non-existent street in the Bumbu Commune.

RLTV is demanding that CENI show them voters registered at those phantom polling stations. It also speculated that there might be hundreds of those phantom polling stations countrywide.

Some opposition leaders don't mince words and claim that they've just uncovered a vast vote rigging operations. As can be expected, the ever restive grapevine of Radio-Trottoir has gone wild over this report, adding some unsavory spice to it--like the rumor that more than 3 million pro-Kabila phantom votes already stuffed into ballot boxes at the manufacturer in South Africa.

Well, the explanation of these phantom polling stations may not be nefarious. According to Kinshasa pro-Kabila daily L'Avenir, CENI technicians might have been doing a "copy and paste" job on the 2006 electoral cartography instead of doing the new cartography based on voters' registration stations where voters were actually registered. This new glitch could fizzle out when Mulunda will hold his next press briefing or it could be seized by UDPS Secretary General Jacquemain Shabani to launch another wave of demos in Kinshasa. (Though sanctioned a few days ago by his own party for "gross misconduct," Shabani remains active as UDPS secretary general and its spearhead.)

3)  Small tribal war "Chine"

Tshangu is Kinshasa eastern electoral constituency comprising some of the most populous communes of the Congolese capital--namely Kimbaseke, Kingasani, Masina, and N'Djili. Due to the huge mass of people living in the area, Tshangu has long been dubbed "Chine" (China) by the Kinois.

Most "Chine" dwellers are from Bandundu Province. Now, as it turns out, Bandundu is the stronghold of "Patriarch" Antoine Gizenga's Parti Lumumbiste Unifié (PALU), the oldest and arguably the best organized Congolese political party. PALU is part of the political coalition in government (Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito is a member of PALU).

As a matter-of-fact, PALU may actually be the only political party where dues are mandatory to members. What's more, it is the only political party to have freely contributed to Joseph Kabila's campaign war chest, to the tune of... $500,000!

However, PALU.members are reputed to behave like sect members--blindly toeing the party line. A pack mentality, as it were. These past few days, violent small packs of young PALU members are roaming the streets of "Chine" in an attempt to interdict UDPS and other anti-Kabila forces from campaigning in Tshangu. So far, a half-dozen pro-Tshisekedi supporters have been grieviously wounded by PALU members. As most pro-Tshisekedi supporters and UDPS partisans are members of the Luba ethnic group, this spate of violence in "Chine"  has the hallmark of a small tribal war...

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Etienne Tshisesekedi has taken leave of his senses: he proclaims himself president and calls for violence on Tuesday, November 8

In an eerie telephone interview in Lingala with pro-opposition RLTV anchor Eliezer Ntumba in the night of Sunday, November 6, Etienne Tshisekedi brazenly called his UDPS supporters to resort to violence on Tuesday, November 8,  at noon sharp (Kinshasa Time), and simultaneously in Kananga, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi. That Tuesday, UDPS militants are to storm prisons in those locations to help jailed UDPS militants in a mass jailbreak.

Tshisekedi claimed he'd already been chosen by the majority of the Congolese people and, hence, the so-called majority in power are a bunch of usurpers. "Kabila is all alone with his wife and kids," he claimed. "People like [Communication Minister] Mende and [Speaker] Boshab, if they're with Kabila by day, at night they come to me."

Furthermore, as the majority has already chosen him, he sees no need of holding elections! He therefore sees himself as the legitimate president chosen by people's voice vote and by acclamation as of Sunday, November 6!

He then lashed out at security forces personnel--especially the police--for doing the bidding of "Kabila and his wife."

He urged his supporters to hunt down those cops who can't toe the line of UDPS and "beat them to a pulp in front of their wives and family."

Asked about the donnybrook that erupted on Saturday, November 5, in Lubumbashi (Katanga) that pitted pro-Kabila supporters of UNAFEC and UDPS militants, Tshisekedi attacked UNAFEC leader Kyungu, former Katanga governor, claiming he was a foreigner, an Angolan whose real name is D'Oliveira!

(The donnybrook started when UDPS motorcade passed in front of UNAFEC headquarters. The fight involved machetes, knives, and clubs--and ended, after the intervention by riot cops, wiith 4 people severely injured.)

Tshisekedi also threatened by name CENI chairman Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, saying that "On December 6 [the date of the announcement of the presidential election results], if that man doesn't go by the people's will he'd be crying in his tribal tongue."

The call to violence by Tshisekedi gives the lie to the claim of Ghandian non-violence Tshisekdi has always said to be his heritage--especially when he speaks in French.

Eliezer Ntumba couldn't however bring Tshisekedi to tell RLTV viewers when exactly would he be coming back home. "Sometime in the middle of next week," Tshisekedi asserted, "on my own plane. I still have errands to run and when they'd finish I'll come!"  He then gave his phone number in South Africa so that Congolese citizens can report personally to him the ongoing government malfeasance: 00227790893872.

This was one of the most bizarre intervews I've ever watched on Congolese live TV broadcast. If anything, it showed that Tshisekedi, in his desperation, has turned into an irresponsible political leader who's got nothing to lose. He might have earned his recent Radio-Trottoir moniker of "National Mourning."

(Radio-Trottoir now calls Tshisekedi "Deuil National" or "National Mourning"--a nickname whose storyline runs as follows: Two months into his presidency, Tshisekedi has a stroke (which in French sounds more dramatic: "AVC" or "Accident Vasculaire Cardiaque"), goes into coma, then dies shortly thereafter! And the whole country is plunged into a National Mourning!)

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Pro-Kabila Maniema Gov Pascal Tutu foots airfare bills for stranded UDPS leader Tshisekedi and his campaign team

Congolese media have just reported this evening that Maniema Gov Pascal Tutu, a card-carrying member of pro-Kabila PPRD parry, has booked one-way commercial airline tickets to Kinshasa for stranded UDPS leader and presidential candidate Etienne Tshisekedi, his wife and political aide Maman Marthe, and his 7- or so strong campaign team managers.

The prospects of Thisekedi's planned Mexican standoff with incumbent Joseph Kabila have thus dramatically dimmed these past 48 hours as legitimate questions are now being raised as to how he could face the challenge of running this sprawling and (by his own description) ill-governed country if he can't even plan and run his own first presidential campaign.

What's more, this "bailout" by Gov Tutu has brought to the fore the issue of Tshisekedi's Limete residence, which belongs to the Congolese state and where the UDPS leader and his family have been living rent-free for several decades. Political enemies are now showcasing this rent-free occupancy or squatting and the Kindu debacle as characteristics of a profiteering politician who's been living since 1960 on government hand-outs and perks--and hence unfit for office!

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Etienne Tshisesekedi has taken leave of his senses: he proclaims himself president and calls for violence on Tuesday, November 8

In an eerie telephone interview in Lingala with pro-opposition RLTV anchor Eliezer Ntumba in the night of Sunday, November 6, Etienne Tshisekedi brazenly called his UDPS supporters to resort to violence on Tuesday, November 8,  at noon sharp (Kinshasa Time), and simultaneously in Kananga, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi. That Tuesday, UDPS militants are to storm prisons in those locations to help jailed UDPS militants in a mass jailbreak.

Tshisekedi claimed he'd already been chosen by the majority of the Congolese people and, hence, the so-called majority in power are a bunch of usurpers. "Kabila is all alone with his wife and kids," he claimed. "People like [Communication Minister] Mende and [Speaker] Boshab, if they're with Kabila by day, at night they come to me."

Furthermore, as the majority has already chosen him, he sees no need of holding elections! He therefore sees himself as the legitimate president chosen by people's voice vote and by acclamation as of Sunday, November 6!

He then lashed out at security forces personnel--especially the police--for doing the bidding of "Kabila and his wife."

He urged his supporters to hunt down those cops who can't toe the line of UDPS and "beat them to a pulp in front of their wives and family."

Asked about the donnybrook that erupted on Saturday, November 5, in Lubumbashi (Katanga) that pitted pro-Kabila supporters of UNAFEC and UDPS militants, Tshisekedi attacked UNAFEC leader Kyungu, former Katanga governor, claiming he was a foreigner, an Angolan whose real name is D'Oliveira!

(The donnybrook started when UDPS motorcade passed in front of UNAFEC headquarters. The fight involved machetes, knives, and clubs--and ended, after the intervention by riot cops, wiith 4 people severely injured.)

Tshisekedi also threatened by name CENI chairman Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, saying that "On December 6 [the date of the announcement of the presidential election results], if that man doesn't go by the people's will he'd be crying in his tribal tongue."

The call to violence by Tshisekedi gives the lie to the claim of Ghandian non-violence Tshisekdi has always said to be his heritage--especially when he speaks in French.

Eliezer Ntumba couldn't however bring Tshisekedi to tell RLTV viewers when exactly would he be coming back home. "Sometime in the middle of next week," Tshisekedi asserted, "on my own plane. I still have errands to run and when they'd finish I'll come!"  He then gave his phone number in South Africa so that Congolese citizens can report personally to him the ongoing government malfeasance: 00227790893872.

This was one of the most bizarre intervews I've ever watched on Congolese live TV broadcast. If anything, it showed that Tshisekedi, in his desperation, has turned into an irresponsible political leader who's got nothing to lose. He might have earned his recent Radio-Trottoir moniker of "National Mourning."

(Radio-Trottoir now calls Tshisekedi "Deuil National" or "National Mourning"--a nickname whose storyline runs as follows: Two months into his presidency, Tshisekedi has a stroke (which in French sounds more dramatic: "AVC" or "Accident Vasculaire Cardiaque"), goes into coma, then dies shortly thereafter! And the whole country is plunged into a National Mourning!)

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Pro-Kabila Maniema Gov Pascal Tutu foots airfare bills for stranded UDPS leader Tshisekedi and his campaign team

Congolese media have just reported this evening that Maniema Gov Pascal Tutu, a card-carrying member of pro-Kabila PPRD parry, has booked one-way commercial airline tickets to Kinshasa for stranded UDPS leader and presidential candidate Etienne Tshisekedi, his wife and political aide Maman Marthe, and his 7- or so strong campaign team managers.

The prospects of Thisekedi's planned Mexican standoff with incumbent Joseph Kabila have thus dramatically dimmed these past 48 hours as legitimate questions are now being raised as to how he could face the challenge of running this sprawling and (by his own description) ill-governed country if he can't even plan and run his own first presidential campaign.

What's more, this "bailout" by Gov Tutu has brought to the fore the issue of Tshisekedi's Limete residence, which belongs to the Congolese state and where the UDPS leader and his family have been living rent-free for several decades. Political enemies are now showcasing this rent-free occupancy or squatting and the Kindu debacle as characteristics of a profiteering politician who's been living since 1960 on government hand-outs and perks--and hence unfit for office!

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Pro-Kabila Maniema Gov Pascal Tutu foots airfare bills for stranded UDPS leader Tshisekedi and his campaign team

Congolese media have just reported this evening that Maniema Gov Pascal Tutu, a card-carrying member of pro-Kabila PPRD parry, has booked one-way commercial airline tickets to Kinshasa for stranded UDPS leader and presidential candidate Etienne Tshisekedi, his wife and political aide Maman Marthe, and his 7- or so strong campaign team managers.

The prospects of Thisekedi's planned Mexican standoff with incumbent Joseph Kabila have thus dramatically dimmed these past 48 hours as legitimate questions are now being raised as to how he could face the challenge of running this sprawling and (by his own description) ill-governed country if he can't even plan and run his own first presidential campaign.

What's more, this "bailout" by Gov Tutu has brought to the fore the issue of Tshisekedi's Limete residence, which belongs to the Congolese state and where the UDPS leader and his family have been living rent-free for several decades. Political enemies are now showcasing this rent-free occupancy or squatting and the Kindu debacle as characteristics of a profiteering politician who's been living since 1960 on government hand-outs and perks--and hence unfit for office!

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Etienne Tshisesekedi has taken leave of his senses: he proclaims himself president and calls for violence on Tuesday, November 8

In an eerie telephone interview in Lingala with pro-opposition RLTV anchor Eliezer Ntumba in the night of Sunday, November 6, Etienne Tshisekedi brazenly called his UDPS supporters to resort to violence on Tuesday, November 8,  at noon sharp (Kinshasa Time), and simultaneously in Kananga, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi. That Tuesday, UDPS militants are to storm prisons in those locations to help jailed UDPS militants in a mass jailbreak.

Tshisekedi claimed he'd already been chosen by the majority of the Congolese people and, hence, the so-called majority in power are a bunch of usurpers. "Kabila is all alone with his wife and kids," he claimed. "People like [Communication Minister] Mende and [Speaker] Boshab, if they're with Kabila by day, at night they come to me."

Furthermore, as the majority has already chosen him, he sees no need of holding elections! He therefore sees himself as the legitimate president chosen by people's voice vote and by acclamation as of Sunday, November 6!

He then lashed out at security forces personnel--especially the police--for doing the bidding of "Kabila and his wife."

He urged his supporters to hunt down those cops who can't toe the line of UDPS and "beat them to a pulp in front of their wives and family."

Asked about the donnybrook that erupted on Saturday, November 5, in Lubumbashi (Katanga) that pitted pro-Kabila supporters of UNAFEC and UDPS militants, Tshisekedi attacked UNAFEC leader Kyungu, former Katanga governor, claiming he was a foreigner, an Angolan whose real name is D'Oliveira!

(The donnybrook started when UDPS motorcade passed in front of UNAFEC headquarters. The fight involved machetes, knives, and clubs--and ended, after the intervention by riot cops, wiith 4 people severely injured.)

Tshisekedi also threatened by name CENI chairman Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, saying that "On December 6 [the date of the announcement of the presidential election results], if that man doesn't go by the people's will he'd be crying in his tribal tongue."

The call to violence by Tshisekedi gives the lie to the claim of Ghandian non-violence Tshisekdi has always said to be his heritage--especially when he speaks in French.

Eliezer Ntumba couldn't however bring Tshisekedi to tell RLTV viewers when exactly would he be coming back home. "Sometime in the middle of next week," Tshisekedi asserted, "on my own plane. I still have errands to run and when they'd finish I'll come!"  He then gave his phone number in South Africa so that Congolese citizens can report personally to him the ongoing government malfeasance: 00227790893872.

This was one of the most bizarre intervews I've ever watched on Congolese live TV broadcast. If anything, it showed that Tshisekedi, in his desperation, has turned into an irresponsible political leader who's got nothing to lose. He might have earned his recent Radio-Trottoir moniker of "National Mourning."

(Radio-Trottoir now calls Tshisekedi "Deuil National" or "National Mourning"--a nickname whose storyline runs as follows: Two months into his presidency, Tshisekedi has a stroke (which in French sounds more dramatic: "AVC" or "Accident Vasculaire Cardiaque"), goes into coma, then dies shortly thereafter! And the whole country is plunged into a National Mourning!)

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From bizarre to outright uncanny: 1) Etienne Tshisekedi is stuck in Kindu; and 2) Pro-Kabila daily L’Avenir warns own camp to brace for massive post-electoral invalidations of elected MPs

1) Etienne Tshisekedi is stuck in Kindu

The electoral campaign unfolding in the DRC seems to be sliding from bizarre to outright uncanny. News reports allege today that Etienne Tshisekedi is stuck in Kindu, the provincial capital of Maniema. His only way to get back to Kinshasa would be to be given a seat on one of MONUSCO flights on humanitarian grounds.

Tshisekedi had chartered an 11-seat Grumman executive jet (including 3 crewmembers) from Allengiancia Air South Africa for 9 days. The time of the contract with the airline having run out, Allengiancia Air South Africa is alleged to have recalled its jet while Tshisekedi was campaigning in Kindu. As the campaign is on shoestring budget, the UDPS leader is rumored to be stuck in Kindu. Barring an intervention by his nemesis, Kabila, or by MONUSCO, no one knows how the Sphinx of Limete is going to get back at his Limete residence.

2) Pro-Kabila L’Avenir warns own camp to brace for massive post-electoral invalidations of elected MPs

In a strangely stinging editorial published today, pro-Kabila daily L’Avenir has warned its own camp to brace for post-electoral massive invalidations of elected MPs. What’s more, L’Avenir accuses CENI Chairman Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunda of having “betrayed” (no one knows whom Mulunda is alleged to have betrayed, as the verb was cryptically left in the intransitive).

The editorial claims that a lot of pro-Kabila stalwarts are keeping their managerial jobs in government and in parastatals while running for office, in violation Article 36 of the Electoral Law, which specifically forbids such mutually incompatible activities and/or positions.

Adding:

“All these irregularities have been noticed and condemned by church leaders, several national and international NGOs, among them the very credible Carter Center; but the runaway train of CENI dashes on without any care for its final destination.”

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1) UDPS Secretary General Jacquemain Shabani sanctioned for "Gross Misconduct" & 2) Kengo's official free campaign message aired

1) UDPS Secretary General Jacquemain Shabani sanctioned for "Gross Misconduct"

Once again, crisis struck at the top of UDPS organization this
Thursday, November 17--eleven days in the run-up to the general
elections. The head of UDPS "Commission Nationale de Discipline"--the
party's disciplinary commission--read a statement broadcast on TV and
radio announcing that Secretary General Jacquemain Shabani had just
been sanctioned for "gross misconduct" ("faute grave").

The discplinary commission alleged that Shabani failed to follow up on
the situation of jailed UDPS party members, stifled initiatives coming
from sections within the party, thwarted a crucial meeting between
MONUSCO and the youth wing of the party. Adding these acts of
indiscipline to the active obstruction of the commission's
investigation by Shabani amounted to "disrespecting" the person of the
party's chairman, Etienne Tshisekedi!

However, despite its strong wording, the statement didn't spell out
the actual consequences of this finding of "gross misconduct" on
Shabani's position and career within UDPS. Could Shabani still operate
as the party's secretary general? Has he been suspended or fired?

What's certain is that UDPS can't afford an abrupt estrangement with
one of its most vocal, articulate, media-savvy, and visible non-Luba
senior party officials for those flimsy reasons, when statistics being
thrown around by pro-Kabila campaigners purport to show that an
overwhelming majority of MP candidates on UDPS lists nationwide were
members of Tshisekedi's own Luba ethnic group.

This development, coming just days after Shabani urged CENI to
disqualify Kabila for using government resources and resources in his
reelection bid, left analysts and observers scratching their heads for
an explanation for such a suicidal move by a party whose chairman has
recently proved to be at best mercurial or at worst unhinged.

2) Kengo's official free campaign message aired

The CSAC (Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel et de la
Communication)--the DRC media watchdog--started airing free campaign
messages by presidential and MP candidates. These messages are
simultaneously and mandatorily broadcast by more than 30 TV and radio
channels randomly selected.

Presidential candidate Léon Kengo wa Dondo's pre-recorded message was
aired on Thursday. Kengo said his main projects for the country are
twofold: "to push back poverty and to push back ignorance" (by heavily
investing in education).

In a quick reaction by phone to Kengo's message on pro-Kabila private
media channels, PPRD communication focal point, Emile Bongeli, said
that Kengo is among those politicians from the Mobutu regime "who
ought to just shut up," for their past abysmal records. Adding that as
a three-time most powerful Premier of Mobutu, Kengo actively
partcipated in the utter destruction of the country.

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Maman Ekofo: Caught in the storm of the Season of Wrath and... Fear

Maman Ekofo

At her "Maboke" stand

On the flank of "Mwana Kin" sidewalk bar

Kinshasa, Matonge

Mobile Phone Photo: Alex Engwete

Pre-electoral violence has escalated so much countrywide that Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, the electoral commission chairman, has expressly requested that the International Criminal Court (ICC) send a team of observers in Kinshasa--no doubt to deter would-be culprits. A few days ago, in Bandundu Province, bodyguards of presidential candidate Vital Kamerhe slugged it out with anti-Kamerhe forces--with 4 dead among the latter. Kamerhe then accused MP Tryphon Kin-Kiey Mulumba, owner of the newspaper Le Soft and head of the Parti pour l'Action, of having a militia to prevent anti-Kabila presidential candidates to campaign in Bandundu Province. Kin-Kiey is now suing Kamerhe for libel. 

On his part, presidential candidate Etienne Tshisekedi continues, unabated, his campaign of violence--urging his supporters to storm prisons to free those of his supporters already jailed for political violence. He repeated his call to violence at a rally in Kisangani on Friday, claiming later on Radio France Internationale that he wasn't calling for violence, but educating the Congolese people on democracy! Yesterday, UDPS militants attempted to storm the military prison of N'Dolo, mistakenly thinking that their comrades were being held there. Soldiers had to fire in the air to disperse the small frenzied crowd. The other day, UDPS militants burned a Chinese dump truck working on Boulevard Lumumba in Limete. The driver was lucky to escape with his life as these goons were bent on burning him alongside his truck. Things have degenerated so badly that on the grapevine Radio-Trottoir, "République Démocratique du Congo" has now been turned into "République Des Connards" (Republic of Shitheads)!

We often talk of this violence "theoretically," as we never put a face on its victims. Following a Radio-Trottoir lead, I was able to put a face on one of those victims of political violence. Her name is Maman Ekofo, a single mother who earns her living selling "maboke" (grilled fish) on display at her stand on the flank of the "nganda" (sidewalk bar) "Mwana Kin," which is a short distance from Stade Tata Raphael, where, decades ago, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman had their Rumble-in-the-Jungle bout.

On Sunday, October 30, UDPS had a kick-off of their campaign at Stade Tata Raphael, a major event MC'ed by Jacquemain Shabani, with all UDPS stalwarts and their allies present--including Félix Tshisekedi, Etienne's son, who is running for MP in Oriental Kasai.

At the close of the event, as UDPS members were spilling into the streets, they confronted a PPRD member on a motorcycle, then proceeded to burn the motorcycle and its rider! Passersby rescued the badly burned young man and whisked him to a nearby hospital. Now in a frenzy, UDPS stormed "Mwana Kin" bar where they saw some people wearing pro-Kabila t-shirts and beat them. They then attacked Maman Ekofo, beat her, stole her "maboke" and her money. Traumatized, Maman Ekofo passed out and was taken to a hospital where she lay, unconscious, till the wee hours of the next day. She couldn't stop crying as all her livelihood was gone. 

"How much did they steal from you?," I asked her. 

"About 200 dollars," she said.

Fortunately for her, Kinshasa Governor André Kimbuta Yango, who had heard about the attack, went to visit Maman Ekofo at the hospital and gave her $500. That's how after recovering Maman Ekofo is now able to open shop. She's still hurting and resented having to revisit the awful incident...

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Etienne Tshisesekedi has taken leave of his senses: he proclaims himself president and calls for violence on Tuesday, November 8

In an eerie telephone interview in Lingala with pro-opposition RLTV anchor Eliezer Ntumba in the night of Sunday, November 6, Etienne Tshisekedi brazenly called his UDPS supporters to resort to violence on Tuesday, November 8,  at noon sharp (Kinshasa Time), and simultaneously in Kananga, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi. That Tuesday, UDPS militants are to storm prisons in those locations to help jailed UDPS militants in a mass jailbreak.

Tshisekedi claimed he'd already been chosen by the majority of the Congolese people and, hence, the so-called majority in power are a bunch of usurpers. "Kabila is all alone with his wife and kids," he claimed. "People like [Communication Minister] Mende and [Speaker] Boshab, if they're with Kabila by day, at night they come to me."

Furthermore, as the majority has already chosen him, he sees no need of holding elections! He therefore sees himself as the legitimate president chosen by people's voice vote and by acclamation as of Sunday, November 6!

He then lashed out at security forces personnel--especially the police--for doing the bidding of "Kabila and his wife."

He urged his supporters to hunt down those cops who can't toe the line of UDPS and "beat them to a pulp in front of their wives and family."

Asked about the donnybrook that erupted on Saturday, November 5, in Lubumbashi (Katanga) that pitted pro-Kabila supporters of UNAFEC and UDPS militants, Tshisekedi attacked UNAFEC leader Kyungu, former Katanga governor, claiming he was a foreigner, an Angolan whose real name is D'Oliveira!

(The donnybrook started when UDPS motorcade passed in front of UNAFEC headquarters. The fight involved machetes, knives, and clubs--and ended, after the intervention by riot cops, wiith 4 people severely injured.)

Tshisekedi also threatened by name CENI chairman Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, saying that "On December 6 [the date of the announcement of the presidential election results], if that man doesn't go by the people's will he'd be crying in his tribal tongue."

The call to violence by Tshisekedi gives the lie to the claim of Ghandian non-violence Tshisekdi has always said to be his heritage--especially when he speaks in French.

Eliezer Ntumba couldn't however bring Tshisekedi to tell RLTV viewers when exactly would he be coming back home. "Sometime in the middle of next week," Tshisekedi asserted, "on my own plane. I still have errands to run and when they'd finish I'll come!"  He then gave his phone number in South Africa so that Congolese citizens can report personally to him the ongoing government malfeasance: 00227790893872.

This was one of the most bizarre intervews I've ever watched on Congolese live TV broadcast. If anything, it showed that Tshisekedi, in his desperation, has turned into an irresponsible political leader who's got nothing to lose. He might have earned his recent Radio-Trottoir moniker of "National Mourning."

(Radio-Trottoir now calls Tshisekedi "Deuil National" or "National Mourning"--a nickname whose storyline runs as follows: Two months into his presidency, Tshisekedi has a stroke (which in French sounds more dramatic: "AVC" or "Accident Vasculaire Cardiaque"), goes into coma, then dies shortly thereafter! And the whole country is plunged into a National Mourning!)

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DRC Elections 2011 Watch: 1) Electoral Scandal: Walikale Constituency (North Kivu) Independent MP Candidate No. 18 Ntabo Sheka is an alleged Mass Rape perp (HRW); and 2) UDPS lied about government airspace closure to Tshiskedi's planes

1) Electoral Scandal: Walikale Constituency (North Kivu) Independent MP Candidate No. 18 Ntabo Sheka is an alleged Mass Rape perp (HRW)

 Independent MP candidate No.18 Ntabo Sheka

Walikale Constituency (North Kivu)

Electoral Commission official photo

(Credits)

On Wednesday, November 2, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement titled "DR Congo: Arrest Candidate for Mass Rape: Mai Mai Leader Sheka Campaigning While Arrest Warrant Goes Unenforced "

According to HRW, the candidate in question is Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka, who had been issued an arrest warrant by Congolese authorities on January 6--a warrant that "thas yet to be enforced." 

 

Excerpt from HRW statement:

 

“Congolese authorities should be arresting Sheka for mass rape whether he is running for office or not,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The failure to arrest someone who is out publicly campaigning for votes sends a message that even the most egregious crimes will go unpunished.” 

Sheka is the leader of a militia known as the Mai Mai Sheka, which operates in remote Walikale territory, North Kivu province, in eastern Congo. In July 2011, the United Nations published a detailed report documenting the rapes of at least 387 civilians – 300 women, 23 men, 55 girls, and 9 boys – between July 30 and August 2, 2010, in 13 villages along the Kibua to Mpofi road in Walikale territory. The UN report said the Mai Mai Sheka was among a coalition of three armed groups responsible for the mass rape, and named Sheka individually as one of the leaders who carried command responsibility. 

Sheka is among the 65 candidates vying for the 2 parliamentary seats of the Walikale constituency (149,576 registered voters) in the North Kivu Province.

Congolese media give the name of the alleged mass rapist perp as Ntabo Ntaberi aka Sheka or Cheka. His ID on CENI registers reads:

"Bulletin Number: 18

First Name: Sheka

Name: Ntabo

Post-Name: Ntaberi

Gender: M

Date of Birth: 04/04/1976

Place of Birth: Walikale

Political Party: Independent

Profession: Trader"

Confronted by this scandal, CENI Deputy Chair Jacques N'Djoli said:

"If there's proof of Mr Sheka's condemnation, Human Rights Watch or other organizations or individuals should have brought the matter to the Supreme Court of Justice to thus seek the invalidation of his candidacy."

N'Djoli failed to say whether Mr Sheka would continue to campaign unmolested, as the deadline for the Supreme Court of Justice to hold hearings on registration contentions has gone by. If so, this electoral scandal would stink to high heaven for years to come.

2)  UDPS lied about government airspace closure to Tshiskedi's planes
Etienne Tshisekedi has recently claimed he was given by supporters 3 aircrafts: 1 jet, 1 DC-3, and 1 copter. Yesterday, UDPS Secretary General Jacquemain Shabani claimed that Congolese authorities have closed DRC airspace to those aircrafts--a claim made amid reports that chartered planes South African Airlines will be flying Tshisekedi throughout the Congo during his campaign and the persistent rumor alleging that Tshisekedi's war chest has been embezzled by his family and his entourage.

But yesterday, Lambert Member, Communication Minister, and Richard Nyangwile, head of the Autorité de l’Aviation Civile Congolaise (AAC)--the Congolese Civil Aviation Authority, accused UDPS of lying: no one from UDPS has so far applied for the flights of those aircrafts over DRC airspace, they claimed.

(And even if they did, the red tape in these matters in the DRC is such that it would take at the very least 2 years to see that permission granted).

Mende and other MP stalwarts are accusing UDPS of not being ready for the elections; hence, those lies.

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DRC Elections 2011 Watch: 1) Ballot boxes start arriving from China; 2) Gov Bill Richardson reads statement in... French; 3) CENI Deputy Chair Jacques N'Djoli warns Orientale Gov over Tshisekedi boycott; 4) Alphonse Awenze: the wild-card MP candidate

1) Ballot boxes start arriving from China

Ballot boxes started arriving from China this week. Two flights have so far landed, carrying more than 30,000 ballot boxes: the first 747 Boeing cargo plane in Lubumbashi and the second one in Kinshasa. The ballot boxes of Lubumbashi are to be distributed in eastern provinces, those of Kinshasa in western provinces. The airlift is to continue in the coming days.

On Tuesday, November 1, CENI Chair Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunda unveiled two exemplars of those ballot boxes (blue lid for legislative polls; yellow lid for presidential poll) at a forum with political leaders and in the presence of Gov Bill Richardson (see next section).

MONUSCO announced on Wednesday, November 2, that its planes and copters would promptly deploy the ballot boxes to various provinces in its ongoing logistical support to CENI.


2) Gov Bill Richardson reads statement in... French!

Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson participated on Tuesday at a forum organized by CENI with political leaders at the conference hall of the Palais du Peuple, the seat of Parliament in Lingwala Commune.

Gov Richardson read his statement in French, which he speaks fairly well, though he failed to pronounce the "t" in the word "démocratie" as a "c." He said he was confident CENI will organize free, fair, transparent, and democratic elections.

CENI Chair Rev Mulunda finally formally unveiled the "cartography" of polling stations countrywide, two samples of the newly arrived transparent ballot boxes, and called on candidates holding government or parastals' positions to resign. What he meant by this call wasn't immediately clear. Does he mean for instance that Premier Adolphe Muzito who is also running for a parliamentary seat ought to resign? Or the Prez himself for that matter?

3) CENI Deputy Chair Jacques N'Djoli warns Orientale Gov over Tshisekedi boycott

In an interview on pro-Kabila Télé 50 TV, CENI Deputy Chair Jacques N'Djoli warned Orientale Province Gov Médard Auchai Asenga over reports he'd directed gas stations not to supply UDPS cars and motorcycles planning to go to Kisangani Bangboka International Airport to welcome Etienne Tshisekedi whenever he lands at the provincial capital from South Africa and the anti-UDPS banners and signs the governor had allowed to be put up in the streets. There were also rumors alleging that Gov Auchai had banned Tshisekedi from Orientale Province!

N'Djoli reminded the governor he'd be held legally accountable if anything went amiss during Tshisekedi's planned trip to Kisangani and other cities of the Orientale Province.

Contrary to pro-Tshisekedi political leaders' claims, N'Djoli said the audit of the central server will soon take place. After the adoption of the terms of reference of the opposition and the list of auditors from both the opposition and the ruling majority camps, N'Djoli insisted, the audit is to take place soon.

4) Alphonse Awenze: the wild-card MP candidate in Kisangani

Public transportation vehicles had at one point disappeared from Kisangani--what with Africa's World War and other economic woes. They were replaced by bicycles whose carriers had been retrofitted to carry people. These bicycles go by the Lingala moniker of "Toleka" (Let's move on) and their operators called "Tolekistes." The "tolekists" come generally from the uneducated lower rungs of society.

Alphonse Awenze doesn't fit the profile of average "tolekists": he happens to be an unemployed university graduate turned "tolekist." He's now running as an independent MP with a populist message that's spreading like bushfire in Kisangani: "Don't vote for politicians who are nothing more than low-life thieves stealing what belongs by right to all citizens--especially the poor!"

With no money for campaigning, Awenze has found powerful allies in members of his guild and the disenfranchised youths of the city. Kisangani "tolekists" and many young people are donning t-shirts with Number "48" written on their backs--Awenze's number on the ballot papers.

At the start of the political campaign, the other candidates didn't take Awenze seriously. But things appear to have dramatically changed.

I talked yesterday with an MP candidate on his way to N'Djili Airport to go campaigning in his Kisangani constituency--the same as Awenze's. He was positively terrified by Awenze, though he enjoys the backing and the money of the "Majorité Présidentielle" (MP). He even went ballistic at one point, when he felt I was somehow defending his rival. "He's a nutcase who doesn't belong in politics," he said, seething with rage. "He belongs in a nuthouse!" He even suggested that Awenze's academic credentials might be fake.

What's even more enraging to professional politicians is that whenever they'd distribute t-shirts with their logos, those t-shirts are then turned inside out and number "48" written all over them!

Awenze is now a variable, a wild card political operatives have to factor in their campaign strategy in Kisangani.

5) Riot cops fire tear gas at UDPS members at Place Victoire in Kinshasa

Yesterday, in the early afternoon, at Place Victoire in Kalamu Commune, a row erupted between municipal police and UDPS members over the spot where a billboard of Tshisekedi was to be put up. Municipal authorities claimed that spot was already rented for a Kabila billboard. Soon enough, a vociferous throng of Tshisekedi supporters had gathered. Riot cops also showed up, and fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. According to the  pro-opposition RLTV, the pro-Tshisekedi Lebanese-Congolese politician Chaloupa was arrested on the scene.

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Electoral Campaign Kick-off

At midnight--in the night of Thursday, October 27, to Friday, October 28--the electoral campaign was officially launched by a CENi official. The electoral campaogn is to last one month, until November 26 at midnight--two days prior to the general elections.

Political ads and songs were immediately broadcast on TV and radio at precisely 0:00 HRS Kinshasa Time. First among presidential campaigns, Vital Kamerhe's campaigns had a long ad running on TV only moments after the official kick-off of the electoral campaign. On pro-Kabila TV channels a blue ticker featuring the picture of the Number 3 candidate and the slogan in Lingala and French "Na Raïs... 100% sûr" (With the Raïs we are 100% certain) began suddenly appearing either on the upper left or the bottom right of TV screens. To the credit of the government-owned RTNC channel, there are no political ads. The ads running thus far have no political messages--only sound tracks with songs or slogans praising candidates.

Kinois woke up in the morning to find thousands of political banners flying high across streets and thoroughfares, as hundreds of candidates are running for MPs in the four constituencies grouping the 24 communes of the city-province of Kinshasa.

A festive mood hang in the air, which many Kinois hope would prevail throughout the electoral campaign (hough the Congolese diaspora media outlet "Kongo Times" relayed the crazy rumor of a bomb scare in the Congolese capital!)...

I met a Kinois who was unimpressed by all the campaign hullabaloo. "I'm not going to vote," he told me. "It's a terrible nightmare the Congolese are born into. The country is dead, destroyed! And make no mistake: Kabila, Tshitshi, Kamerhe... No one among those comedians and jokers will ever kick this place back to life. We're dead people walking!"

Most candidates has any published schedule of public appearances, with the exception of Léon Kengo wa Dondo who will unveil his political project on Saturday, October 29.

The CSAC, the media watchdog, has issued a schedule of taping of presidential candidates' political messages to be aired once on RTNC during the electoral campaign... Another joke apparently...

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