DRC Election Campaigning Banned, Protesters Raid Kabila Party Office and Emmanuel Shadary Rally Disrupted.

Congo Elections Hub: CENI postpones election to December 30.

CENI confirms poll delay.

The electoral commision in Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday confirmed that it was postponing the presidential election scheduled for Sunday, to December 30, citing delays in deploying voting materials.

After a meeting with candidates in the capital, the electoral commission (CENI) said it had not been able to provide sufficient ballot papers for Kinshasa after a warehouse blaze last week destroyed much of the capital’s election material.

“We cannot organise general elections without the province of Kinshasa, and without the Kinois voters – who represent 10 percent of the electoral body,” CENI president Corneille Nangaa told journalists.

“The presidential, legislative and provincial ballots will take place on Dec. 30 2018.”

The decision may stoke already high tensions after several government crackdowns on opposition rallies.

After the announcement, a crowd outside CENI headquarters started shouting in protest and were pushed back by police.

CENI ‘technically unable’ to conduct election.

One of the candidates who attended the meeting of presidential candidates with Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission (CENI) on Thursday, says the president of the body told them CENI is not able to organize the vote on time.

Theodore Ngoy said in a text message to Reuters news agency, that CENI president Corneille Nangaa announced the commission was “technically unable” to hold the election on Sunday.

Ngoy added that the board president Corneille Nangaa cited a fire last week that destroyed ballot papers, an ongoing Ebola outbreak and ethnic violence as reasons for delaying the voting.

Earlier, another candidate Martin Fayulu said, it would be unacceptable for the election to be pushed back.

“The CENI president said there will be an election rain or shine on the 23rd of December,” Fayulu said. “We cannot accept a change of Mr. Nangaa’s position today.”

Fayulu also criticised Wednesday’s decision by the governor of the capital city, Kinshasa, to suspend campaigns.

That decision was “manifestly illegal, we can’t respect it,” said Fayulu.

Campaigning had been due to end at midnight on Friday in what has boiled down to a race between Kabila’s preferred successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, and two main challengers, Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi.

Electoral commission summons candidates

Reports about the possible delay of Democratic Republic of Congo’s presidential election were further fuelled on Thursday after the electoral commission (CENI) summoned the candidates in Sunday’s presidential election to a meeting at the parliament building.

Marie-France Idikayi, a CENIspokeswoman, invited the candidates to an 11 a.m. (1000 GMT) meeting. Her message, sent on Wednesday, was seen by Reuters.

Idikayi denied media reports on Wednesday that CENI was considering postponing the election by a few days due to delays deploying voting materials to polling stations.

Congo election body mulls poll postponement

DRC’s long awaited polls has been delayed by two whole years but there exists a possibility to it been postponed the elections body, CENIhas said.

CENI spokesperson, Pierre Kalamba told the BBC that the measure was possible if election materials are not ready to be deployed. According to him, a delay will serve a better purpose than to rush the process.

Materials expected to be used in the capital, Kinshasa, has been massively hit after a fire at a warehouse destroyed an estimated two-thirds. CENI had previously said it will replace all the materials in time for the vote.

Campaigning is expected to end on December 21, two clear days ahead of the December 23 vote. Already, the governor of Kinshasa has banned campaign activities in the capital citing security considerations.

Campaigning has been chaotic in parts of the country with opposition supporters clashing with law enforcement officers. Main opposition candidate, Martin Fayulu has also reported campaign trail muzzling by the government.

Congo election campaigning stopped in Kinshasa.

Election campaigning in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been suspended for ahead of Sunday’s presidential vote for security reasons.

The city’s governor, Andre Kimbuta, said authorities have intelligence that radical elements in the camps of the main candidates planned to cause chaos during the campaigns.

“The information in our possession attests that in all the political camps of the main presidential candidates, extremists have prepared and are preparing for a street confrontation in the city of Kinshasa during election campaign activities,” Kimbuta said in a statement on Wednesday.

While Kitumba isa member of president Joseph Kabila’s ruling party, Kinshasa is an opposition stronghold.

The long-delayed election is meant to choose a successor for President Joseph Kabila, due to step down after 18 years in power, has been marred by deadly clashes between the police and opposition supporters during the campaigns.

Kimbuta added that the only way presidential candidates could campaign in Kinshasa would be through the media, where Shadary has a clear advantage due to a sizeable war chest and state or ruling party control of many media outlets.

Protesters disrupt Shadary rally, raid Kabila party office.

Violence continues to disrupt the campaign process in the Democratic Republic of Congo ahead of Sunday’s presidential election, as at least one person died as residents of Tshikapa protested against a planned rally by Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary.

The unrest in Tshikapa, a city in the restive central Kasai region, also saw the presidential party’s headquarters being ransacked, according to witnesses.

Details of how the victim died in Tshikapa were still emerging, but one local NGO said soldiers had opened fire to disperse protesting crowds in the city and shot a market woman in the head.

“The soldiers, who were supporting the police, opened fire to disperse the demonstrators. A woman who was selling embers at the Sokajik market was hit in the head,” said the head of a Congolese NGO which was on site.

The violence comes after at least one other person was killed and more than 80 injured in weekend clashes in the city, the latest unrest in the tense build-up to the December 23 ballot.

The rally by Shadary, the “pro-Kabila” candidate, was cancelled after the violence.

“The candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary will reschedule the visit to Tshikapa tomorrow or the day after tomorrow after assessing the security situation,” one of his relatives told AFP.

Images of the raided presidential offices were widely shared on social media.

Video posts also showed hundreds of young people, some armed with sticks, marching and chanting on Tuesday against the arrival of Ramazani Shadary.

A number of people have been killed in pre-election violence since the beginning of campaigning on November 22.

Western governments are closely watching the election violence and vote outcome in the vast African state, which has never known a peaceful transfer of power since independence from colonial Belgium in 1960.

Presidential debate?

Martin Fayulu, leader of the Lamuka coalition in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, has called for a national debate between contestants in the December 23 elections.

His call comes four days to the end of campaigning, December 21, and under a week to the opening of voting centers. According to Fayulu, the occasion will help candidates share their ideas with voters.

He made the call via a Twitter post on Monday. “I propose a live broadcast debate on national television and Radio + private media between presidential candidates.

“This will be an opportunity to demonstrate that (for) on the ground ideas and their implementation, our coalition brings concrete proposals,” his tweet read.

Fayulu’s challenge comes at a time when candidates are busily campaigning across the country as they canvass votes to replace outgoing Joseph Kabila. The DRC is hoping for its first ever peaceful transition of power.

The Lamuka coalition comprises three aspirants and two banned hopefuls. The two are former vice president Jean Pierre Bemba and ex-governor of Katanga province, Moise Katumbi.

Other major candidates in the official pool of 21 include a former minister of interior Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, running on the ticket of the ruling coalition and Felix Tshisekedi, a son of a deceased veteran opposition leader, Etienne Tshisekedi.

— Martin Fayulu (@MartinFayulu).