Voter registration has kicked off in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as the country prepares for the December 2023 general election.
President Felix Tshisekedi is expected to seek re-election after a first term marked by economic hardship and a resurgence of rebel activity in the east.
Almost 50 million people across the vast Central African nation’s 26 provinces are expected to register to vote over the next three months. However, registration has opened in the first 10 provinces to long lines and under supplied stations.
“There are no machines”, a citizen noted.
The Electoral Commission (CENI) rolled out a new mobile phone pre-registration system to speed up the process and prevent the long queues that formed during past polls.
Iris scans have also been added to limit fraud.
Reports say most registration stations in the capital, Kinshasa, failed to open as scheduled due to a lack of staff and material.
Citizens in other provinces made similar observations. An Election Observer who did not wish to be named told Reuters only 6 thousand 900 out of more than 11 thousand kits needed for the first phase of registration had arrived at the start of last week.
Tshisekedi, 59, also registered on Saturday in the northwest city of Mbandaka, where an Ebola outbreak occurred earlier this year. Martin Fayulu, the runner-up in the last presidential vote, has already announced his intention to run against Tshisekedi again.
Opposition leader Moise Katumbi, the powerful Ex-governor of the copper-producing Katanga province, will also contest.
