“The CENI recruits, organizes, determines the methodology, approves the report, what is external in this? asks Donatien N'Shole

2023-05-15 19:58:21

Monday, May 15, 2023

The CENCO-ECC electoral observation mission has once again drawn the attention of the Independent National Electoral Commission to the need to entrust the external audit of the electoral register to an organization capable of assuring the various stakeholders in the electoral process in course. The two religious denominations believe that the CENI can also extend the time provided for the audit as was the case with the identification and voter registration operations in the various operational areas.

“We recommend that the CENI stick to the principle of the external audit of the electoral register by an independent international body, with the obligation that the latter associates a few national experts, within the appropriate timeframes, by carrying out adjustments within of the electoral calendar, as discussed with the various catch-up periods granted to electoral candidates. This is to promote consensus around the said electoral file”, say the two denominations in their observation mission report on the operations of identification and enrollment of voters made public this Monday, May 15, 2023.

For one of the spokespersons of the observation mission, Monsignor Donatien N’Shole, what has been done so far by the CENI does not look like an external audit but rather like the work of a sub-commission of this electoral institution.

“The ECC-CENCO MOE hopes that the CENI will stick to the need for a truly external audit conducted by an independent and experienced body in order to reassure all stakeholders and promote consensus around the electoral register. That too is a recommendation on which we insist because what is done now can have all the qualifiers except that of an external audit because there the CENI invites, recruits individuals, it is the CENI who organizes, it is the CENI which will determine the methodology and it is the CENI which will approve the report, what is external in this? It is as if it were a commission of the CENI”, remarked Donatien N’Shole, secretary general of the CENCO.

Also, he mentioned the need to hold a consultation framework where it will be necessary to discuss with the various stakeholders on issues that annoy

“There are challenges in relation to the electoral calendar, here is the need for a consultation framework because the CENI is indeed required to respect the law, to respect the constitution, such a framework could be the place to discuss this difficulty of size. It is therefore true that if these conditions are met, there will be a consensus on the electoral roll and the confidence of the public, itself a witness to certain facts highlighted here, will be increasingly restored. Thus the CENI will have avoided that this electoral process is badly engaged”, said Donatien N’Shole while affirming that “this is not the time to be pessimistic”

The CENI has announced the start of work on the external audit of the electoral register in accordance with its electoral calendar. It has made public the names of the national and international experts selected to constitute a mixed mission of external audit of the electoral register. In this team of 5 people, there is Mrs. Janet Love from South Africa, Mr. Muhabi Lufu Chisi from Malawi, Mr. Joseph Topangu from the DRC, Mr. Kabata Kabata Kabamba from the DRC and Mr. Vianney Nzanzu Tawite from the DRC.

In a letter addressed to the president of the Independent National Electoral Commission Dénis Kadima Kazadi, the OIF says that it is not in a position to ensure the external audit of the electoral register in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as desired by the CENI. The OIF justified its decision by the fact that the deadline proposed by the Independent National Electoral Commission is so short that it will not facilitate better support.

For this electoral cycle, the CENI had already taken steps to seek the expertise of the OIF for the audit of the electoral register. Currently, the CENI is in the process of cleaning up the electoral register and consolidating the data. The electoral calendar provides for an external audit of the file from May 15 to 20, i.e. five days.

Clement MUAMBA