Voting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Refugees International's Advocates Rick Neal and Andrea Lari have arrived in the D.R. Congo. It's the 3rd time Refugees International has been in this country this year. Rick sent in the following description and photo from Kinshasa on Sunday, October 29:

Election Day in the DRC – and the first full day of our mission. From our hotel near the compound of MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission, we could see that the streets were unusually quiet. Driving through the rainy afternoon, there was little of the hustle that we were used to from previous visits. A local friend involved in politics told us over lunch that reports from Kinshasa as well as other parts of the country pointed to a low turnout. In Kinshasa, people were staying home because of the rain, which should help the incumbent, President Joseph Kabila, unpopular in the capital. In the rest of the country, though, our friend explained that this was the second time people had been called to vote in just a few months, and they were beginning to lose interest. It hadn’t helped that neither Kabila nor his opponent, Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, had left the capital to campaign in the provinces. In any event, it seems that the day has passed calmly. Results will begin to emerge over the next few days, with full provisional results announced in perhaps two weeks. Will the loser accept the outcome? People are keeping their fingers crossed.

In the meantime, we’re hoping that we’ll be able to get out of Kinshasa fairly soon. For our first stop, we’re going to try to get to the small town of Lodja, deep in the center of the country, along the front line of the 1998-2003 war that displaced millions. We’ve heard that the displaced have returned home, but with almost no assistance, and have been left to fend for themselves as they try to rebuild. There do not seem to be many options for transportation; we’re hoping to talk to some priests tomorrow who can point the way.

Read more about Rick and Andrea's plans during their mission to the DRC.