2023-12-26 09:44:57
BUTEMBO – They finally took part in the votes this Sunday, December 24, 2023, the inhabitants of 5 villages in the Bapere sector to the west of the Lubero territory (North Kivu). This was after the deployment of electoral kits in these entities of North Kivu by helicopters on Saturday.
According to civil society in the Bapere sector, it is with great satisfaction that this population also elected its leaders and representatives. Samuel Kakule Kagheni, Samuel president of local civil society, confirms that these electoral operations took place calmly and without incident.
The deployment of electoral kits in Mabuo in the Bapere sector was made possible thanks to a helicopter chartered by the CENI. It was on Saturday that these materials arrived in the villages in question. These are the entities of Mabuo, Lenda, Lomo, Bobodea and Isange which were supplied and voted this Sunday, CENI Lubero sources indicate. They add that the distance and inaccessibility of the area delayed voting operations. According to the latest statistics, more than 5,000 voters are expected in this area.
While the voting issues are being resolved, others have arisen directly. This is the anger of temporary CENI agents. These are the computer technicians of the voting centers and the heads of voting centers of the CENI branch of Lubero. These agents demonstrated on Saturday in front of the CENI office/Lubero branch. They are claiming, among other things, per diem costs for the 10-day training, deployment costs in different voting centers, collection costs and their salary for the service provided.
They indicate that since the beginning of the process, they have not received anything. One of the demonstrators said they were not ready to hand over the USB keys containing the electoral data and the envelopes as well as the electronic voting devices if the CENI did not comply. In front of the office of the local CENI branch, demonstrators threatened to burn electoral materials to make their voices heard.
When contacted, the head of the CENI branch did not pick up the phone. But the military administrator of the Lubero territory reassured that the executive secretariat of the CENI in North Kivu is already informed of this discontent.
© CongoForum – Roger Mulyata, 26.12.23
Image – source: Congolese press
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