DRC Prepares for Historic Election

In only a few days, the Democratic Republic of Congo will hold their first multiparty elections in more than 40 years. Despite there being more than 30 presidential candidates, interim president, Joseph Kabila, seems likely to emerge as the country's leader. And even though many consider Mr. Kabila's victory a foregone conclusion, the path to the July 30 elections has been anything but smooth for the country. July has been disorderly and oftentimes violent.

This has been a month of discontent. A majority of the candidates have called for a delay in voting, challengers and their supporters have demonstrated against the election's poor organization, and an extra five million ballots have been discovered, causing fear that the results are destined to inspire allegations of corruption. If Mr. Kabila does win the race, he will have a great deal to prove to his countrymen, many of whom lived for decades under the dictatorship of Mobuto Sese Seko, who eventually seized power after the DRC's last elected leader, Patrice Lumumba, was assassinated in 1961.

Even journalists decided to take to the streets to express their concerns. On July 8, Baquwa Mwamba, a Congolese journalist, was shot dead, apparently for sharing his opinions regarding "political intolerance and police intimidation." It had already been eight months since the killing of another journalist and his wife who died under similar circumstances. Feeling the government had done nothing to protect their freedom of expression, over 1,000 journalists rallied together on July 18 to send a message to the government. To send a lasting impression of their disapproval, no newspapers were printed on that Tuesday.

While July has been filled with its share of turmoil, these elections will represent, at least in theory, a renewed hope. Mr. Kabila, or any other leader, will have to rebuild a nation that has been ravaged by decades of poor leadership, war and corruption. The DRC is only slowly emerging from the world's worst war since World War Two. Currently, it is estimated by the United Nations that 1,200 people die each day in the DRC due to violence, disease and malnutrition. The DRC is also host to the largest peacekeeping force in the world with 17,000 UN troops. These are all figures that the president will have to work to reduce. And although all Congolese are ready to embark on a new chapter in their history, the official results of the election will not be known until least three weeks after July 30.

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