The electoral commission under the leadership of Denis Kadima cited that the Congolese will elect their national provincial legislators and local councils and the swearing-in of the elected president is scheduled for Jan. 20, 2024.
In his remarks, Kadima said that “The electoral campaigns for the presidential candidates, national and provincial deputies will take place from Nov. 19 to Dec. 18 next year. The electoral commission calls for the involvement of all stakeholders in the electoral process to ensure a smooth outcome.”
He added that the fact that the country is currently facing hostilities from rebels, would pose a challenge to holding free and fair elections in December.
With more than 50 million Congolese expected to be registered, the commission is set to start voter registration next month. and that the elections would cost about $600m, more than $450m of which has already been budgeted for but candidates are expected to be announced next October.
The good news is that the number of registration centres has been increased to about 29,000, an addition of more than 12,000 centres compared to the last revision of the electoral register in 2016-2017.
In conclusion, therefore, Although current President Felix Tshisekedi came to power in January 2019, succeeding Joseph Kabila in the first country’s peaceful handover of power after 18 years in office, we hope to see him surrendering power to his next fellow if not him being added another term.
