Fayulu, still undeclared, warns of compromised Dr Congo elections

Opposition leader and former Congolese presidential candidate Martin Fayulu says credible elections in December are the key to change in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but he remains skeptical about the possibility given the control that incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi has over government institutions.

If the elections are conducted in an impartial and transparent manner, then “we’ll have the rule of law, we’ll have the integrity of our country, we will have the cohesion of the Congolese, all Congolese will speak the same language,” said Fayulu during an Africa Aware podcast interview with Yusuf Hassan of Chatham House, published Tuesday.

From there, the country can move forward on economic and development issues such as health and education, Fayulu said.

Fayulu was widely viewed as the winner of the presidential election in 2018, both at home and abroad. Yet the final results from CENI, the national electoral commission, gave Tshisekedi – the main Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) candidate – 38.6 percent of the vote. He was followed by Fayulu, of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development (ECiDé) party, at 34.8 percent.

Fayulu had not yet committed to running again in this year’s election, but Congolese media reported Tuesday that his intent to do so is clear and they expect him to file in the coming days. Moïse Katumbi also is expected to run again. The candidates face a number of issues, including security challenges in the eastern part of the country. They also face a government crackdown on opposition leaders, according to a Human Rights Watch report in August.

“”If you have only one party ruling the electoral commission, I think we will not have impartiality for the election,” warned Fayulu, who said Tshisekedi was setting himself up to benefit from fraudulent practices. “Mr. Tshisekedi has put in place an electoral commission with only his people.”

Image: Martin Fayulu file

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