Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05KINSHASA1383
2005-08-26 10:41:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kinshasa
Cable title:  

VOTER REGISTRATION IMPROVING, BUT SIGNIFICANT

Tags:  PGOV KDEM KPKO CG 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001383 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2015
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPKO CG
SUBJECT: VOTER REGISTRATION IMPROVING, BUT SIGNIFICANT
CHALLENGES PERSIST

REF: A. KINSHASA 1323

B. KINSHASA 1356

Classified By: DCM TDougherty for reasons 1.4 b/d.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001383

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2015
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPKO CG
SUBJECT: VOTER REGISTRATION IMPROVING, BUT SIGNIFICANT
CHALLENGES PERSIST

REF: A. KINSHASA 1323

B. KINSHASA 1356

Classified By: DCM TDougherty for reasons 1.4 b/d.


1. (C) Summary: At an August 25 meeting with CIAT,
Independent Electoral Commission and GDRC officials reported
improvements in the voter registration process. More than 6
million Congolese have now registered, and registration began
in three additional provinces this week. Significant
challenges remain, however. The registration process is
behind schedule, police and registration officials have not
been paid, logistical support is still wanting, and no
apparent progress has been made in the drafting of an
election law since the last inter-institutional meeting on
elections. CIAT members have strongly reiterated their
request for regular meetings with the "Espace Presidentiel"
(the President and four Vice Presidents) to discuss elections
and other issues critical to the success of the Transition.
End summary.


2. (SBU) Presidency officials organized a meeting with CIAT
chiefs of mission on August 25 as a follow-up to the August
15 inter-institutional meeting hosted by President Kabila
(reftel A). Called on short notice, the utility of such a
meeting was put to question at a preparatory CIAT meeting
earlier in the day in light of the fact that key GDRC players
would be absent. Not in attendance were President Kabila
(currently in Katanga),Vice President Ruberwa (who is in the
Kivus),Vice President Yerodia (representing the GDRC at the
presidential inauguration in Bujumbura),the Minister of
Interior (in Ituri),and the Minister of Defense (also in the
East). The meeting nevertheless went forward in order to
review progress made in voter registration since the August
15 meeting. With Vice President Zahidi Ngoma presiding, the
GDRC was also represented by Vice President Bemba,
Independent Election Commission (CEI) President Malu Malu,
the National Assembly and Senate presidents, and President
Kabila,s chief of staff.

--------------
"Clear Improvement" in Voter Registration...
--------------

3. (U) CEI President Malu Malu told CIAT members there had
been a "clear improvement" in voter registration since August

15. Thanks to MONUC, the military, NGOs, and the churches,

voter registration kits were being delivered more smoothly,
he said, at least to the principal provincial centers from
which they are distributed locally. Registration has begun
in Maniema and North and South Kivu provinces, albeit
tentatively. As of August 24, more than 6,283,000 Congolese
have been registered country-wide.


4. (U) The CEI reported that with 100% of the registration
centers operational in Bas-Congo and with almost a million
voters registered, registration will soon end in the province
and kits will then be sent from there to Equateur or Bandundu
provinces where registration has not yet begun. In Orientale
province, 877 of a projected 1069 centers are now
operational, and about 825,000 have been registered. Once
registration has been completed there, more kits will become
available for registration in other provinces.


5. (U) The three provinces in the third phase of the
registration process -- Katanga, Western Kasai, and Eastern
Kasai -- where registration commenced on August 7, are far
behind schedule. In Katanga, only 325 of 1195 centers have
opened (though Malu Malu said about 200 more would be opening
imminently),with more than a half million voters registered
to-date. Progress is being made in Western Kasai (579,000
registered),though only about 30% of the centers are
operational. The situation in Eastern Kasai was termed the
&most critical8 by Malu Malu, with only 230 of 826 centers
open, and with only 378,000 citizens registered.


6. (U) Registration began in the Kivus and in Maniema on
August 21. By August 24, however, only 104 of 792 centers
were open in North Kivu (with only 33,000 voters registered),
69 of 689 were open in South Kivu (with slightly more than
20,000 voters registered),and 24 of 450 centers were open in
Maniema (with fewer than 5,000 voters registered). Malu Malu
said that more registration kits had been delivered that day
to the Kivus.

--------------
...but Significant Problems Remain
--------------

7. (SBU) Malu Malu reported that, despite general improvement
in the registration process, the CEI is still confronted by
significant problems. Among those cited were the
distribution of registration kits at the local level,
security concerns in Ituri (reftel B),and the issue of large
numbers of Congolese refugees pressing to return from
Tanzania to areas in South Kivu where virtually no
infrastructure exists. Moreover, extending registration
periods first in Kinshasa and then in Bas-Congo and Orientale
provinces has had a domino effect that will render it
impossible to complete national registration by September 26
as originally envisaged.


8. (C) SRSG and CIAT chiefs of mission raised additional
problems. Despite assurances by the Minister of Interior
that police would be paid, payments to police officers at
registration centers have not been made. Many registration
officials have not been paid, many have not been able to work
at centers where local communities have rejected them as
&outsiders,8 and some officials are poorly trained. The
government has apparently not availed itself of repeated
offers made by Chamber of Commerce officials to provide
logistical support. And although MONUC is providing logistic
support, the GDRC,s performance is wanting.


9. (C) Vice President Bemba noted that President Kabila,
through the Minister of Interior, is instructing governors
and provincial and territorial officials to provide the
maximum possible logistical support. He noted, however,
additional problems that had come to his attention. They
included the long distances citizens in rural areas must
often travel to get to a registration center. Worse still,
once citizens make the long trip to centers, they often find
centers so crowded that they cannot register that day.


10. (C) Of significant concern is the fact that no progress
has been made in drafting an election law nor in arranging to
convene an extraordinary session of parliament in September
for it to be discussed and debated. Both the presidents of
the National Assembly and Senate pointed out that many
members of parliament are currently in their home districts
where they are involved in the registration process. Both
noted, however, that they personally understand the need and
the urgency to move forward with the election law. Vice
President Zahidi suggested that the matter should be raised
at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers.

--------------
Comment
--------------

11. (C) While the inter-institutional meeting was useful as a
progress report on registration efforts, an individual
briefing with the CEI president would have been just as
effective. Unfortunately, the key GDRC players who had
questions to answer were not in attendance. The Minister of
Interior, for example, has to explain why police have still
not been paid despite repeated assurances from him that they
would be. Progress must be made quickly on the election
law, and that message -- along with one about the necessity
of the government living up to its commitments to provide
logistical support throughout the country -- needs to be
heard clearly by the senior-most leadership. To that end,
CIAT members were clear in asking for another follow-up
inter-institutional meeting and, more importantly, for
regular meetings with the "Espace Presidentiel" to discuss
election-related and other issues critical to the success of
the Transition. End comment.
MEECE