The general elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) took place on Wednesday, December 20, 2023 and will continue this Thursday in voting centers that were unable to open the previous day. In Kinshasa this morning there was sometimes still time to count the time, for example at the Sainte-Anne school – Central Station. Reporting.
Published on: 12/21/2023 – 1:26 p.m. Modified on: 12/21/2023 – 1:27 p.m
3 mins
From our special correspondent in Kinshasa,
“We are too tired, we are thirsty too,” say the young women warmly and with a smile who are following the electoral process at the École Sainte-Anne / Central Station voting center in the Gombe district. One of the site managers confirmed: Voting, which started late, lasted until 10 p.m. in certain offices and manual counting began immediately.
Also read: Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Voting continues in the disrupted offices, counting has begun in others
It lasted all night and ended around 8 a.m., this Thursday, December 21, 2023, at Office 1A. In this small classroom, a huge blackboard and desks arranged here and there: seated, six agents of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Céni), with blue vestments on their backs, they check the results and explain what happens next. Events involving around ten witnesses, exhausted after a sleepless night.
A small gap between manual counting and digital results: We check again
The center manager comes by several times to make sure everything is working. An advisor from Céni, the electoral commission specializing in internal auditing, visits the premises. He was told of an incident that had disrupted the smooth running of the vote the day before: a false alarm, he concluded.
Under the concentrated gaze of his colleagues, one of the agents extracts long protocols from the voting machine: results of the presidential elections, then the parliamentary elections, those of the provincial elections and finally the sub-municipal elections. Everything is examined again. “As you can see, it works. The system works. There is no need to worry,” assures the eldest of them.
Also read: Parliamentary elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A disrupted election day in Kinshasa
Occasionally a light breeze blows into the room, where complete silence reigns. An experienced woman compares the results given by the device with those counted manually. Finally ? A small voice of difference in the local elections. A re-examination is required.
“We worked all night”
Exhausted, an observer finally spreads a sheet on the floor and lies down on it to regain her strength. Others bury their faces in their arms, which they lay on the small school desks with their eyes half closed.
Voters walk by the window and complain that the results are still not in. “Are you still not finished?” a man calls out. The oldest agent doesn't give up. “We worked all night,” he replies calmly.
At around 10 a.m. the witnesses emerged from their torpor to countersign the reports. At around 11 a.m. it was the turn of the Céni agents to initial the documents. We reach the goal. But at 11:30 a.m. the surprise comes: a manager comes to check the validity of the witnesses' accreditations. Further extending the duration of the endless process.
Witnesses at the countersigning of the minutes of the results of the Congolese parliamentary elections of December 20, 2023, the next day, at the Sainte-Anne School – Kinshasa Central Station. © David Kalfa/RFI