DRC ELECTIONS: CEI PROMISES INVESTIGATION AFTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001236

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/04/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPKO CG ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: DRC ELECTIONS: CEI PROMISES INVESTIGATION AFTER
BALLOTS BURNED


Classified By: PolOff CBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d.


1. (C) Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) President Abbe
Apollinaire Malu Malu promised August 4 that the Commission
will investigate the burning of an unknown number of marked
ballots and vote tally sheets at an election liaison office
in Kinshasa. In a meeting with the Ambassador and
Representative Donald Payne, Malu Malu said a fire was
started sometime during the day of August 2 at a CEI liaison
office in the N'Djili neighborhood of Kinshasa that had been
receiving ballots and voting tabulation sheets from various
polling sites.


2. (C) Malu Malu said CEI workers themselves were responsible
for starting the fire, and apparently did so while attempting
to clean up and dispose of trash and other election material
no longer needed. The CEI president added that at this point,
it is unclear what the motivation was for starting the fire
or if it was intentionally set to destroy voting results. In
a separate meeting with the Ambassador and Representative
Payne, MONUC DSRSG Haile Menkarios said he believed the
workers deliberately started the fire in protest over having
not been paid by the CEI. (Note: Due to clerical and
technical errors, some CEI workers in Kinshasa were not paid
on August 1 as promised. After correcting the necessary
paperwork, the CEI was to have begun paying workers the
afternoon of August 2. End note.)


3. (C) According to Malu Malu, initial reports from the
liaison office where the fire took place indicated that only
draft copies of tally sheets and unused ballots had been
burned. Upon further investigation, however, evidence was
brought forward by some international observation missions
demonstrating that some marked ballots, as well as packets
containing vote counting sheets, had also been destroyed.
Jean-Michel Dumont of the European Union's Observer Mission
told PolOff August 3 that he had personally seen partially
burned ballots that had been marked by voters. Carter Center
observers have also reported seeing the same evidence at the
liaison office in question. The CEI president said it is not
known how much material may have been destroyed in the fire
or how many voting sites may be affected by the incident.


4. (C) Malu Malu said he has asked MONUC to collect the
remains of all burned voting material from the liaison office
and store it in a secure location for further investigation.
Malu Malu said CEI workers at the local compilation center in
Kinshasa will next look through their records and the voting
materials already received to determine which results from
which voting sites are missing. In cases where tally sheets
cannot be found, the CEI will return to the polling sites
themselves to collect copies of the vote results which were
to have been posted outside their respective stations. The
CEI also plans to speak to each polling station worker,
election observer and political party witness who monitored
voting operations at the affected sites to verify results.


5. (C) As a last resort to ensure the integrity of the
electoral process, Malu Malu said the CEI would consider a
re-vote in the affected areas. Malu Malu said the CEI must
first determine the scope of the problem and how many voters
may have been affected by the destruction of voting material.
If a significant number of ballots are unrecoverable, Malu
Malu said a re-vote would very likely take place.


6. (C) Colin Stewart, the co-director of the Carter Center's
observation mission in the DRC, told PolOff August 4
following his meeting with Malu Malu that he was satisfied
with the steps the CEI is taking to investigate the incident.
Stewart also said he believes the Commission is taking
appropriate measures to find a solution to the problem and
prevent such acts from happening again. Stewart added,
however, that he was concerned about the apparent "breach" in
the chain of custody of election material.


7. (C) Comment: The fire at the Kinshasa polling center and
apparent destruction of ballots is a serious concern meriting
immediate investigation by the CEI. It should be noted,
however, that this act appears to be an isolated incident and
not part of a widespread effort to manipulate the counting
process. Moreover, despite some media reports to the
contrary, it is highly unlikely that one-quarter of
Kinshasa's ballots may have been destroyed. The incident
nonetheless raises important questions about the CEI's
security measures, the training of its workers, and the
logistical difficulty in collecting and compiling ballots and

KINSHASA 00001236 002 OF 002


tally sheets from more than 8,500 locations in Kinshasa. The
fire will undoubtedly provide more fodder for candidates to
cry foul and claim fraud, leading to even higher tensions
when results are announced later in the month. For the
moment, though, the actual impact of the fire on the vote
count appears to be minor; it is the political impact that
may have significant repercussions. End comment.
MEECE