STATEMENT BY CONGOLESE INTELLECTUALS ON HOW TO END THE USURPATION OF POWER BY JOSEPH KABILA IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

(February 13, 2012)

We, intellectuals, men and women of culture and the arts, Congolese professionals and patriots,

-        Concerned about the serious post-electoral and legitimacy crisis that our country, the DRC, is going through today;

-        Refusing to accept any maneuver to deny the people of the Congo their legitimate right to democracy, to humiliate them and to entrench their impoverishment;

-        Joining our people in rejecting any external control over the natural resources and the modes of governance of our country;

Make the following statement:

1.   The presidential election of November 28, 2011 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was marred not only by irregularities, but mostly by massive fraud. These included violations of the Electoral Law by both President Joseph Kabila and the Chair of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), Daniel Ngoy Mulunda; polling stations that could not be found because they were fictitious; insufficient or no presidential ballots in some polling stations; rigged ballots, with Mr. Kabila’s name already marked; poll watchers from the opposition and civil society being expelled from some polling stations at the time of vote counting; the organized disappearance by CENI of the reports and therefore the returns of nearly 3,500 polling stations; and the compilation of results not consistent with polling station reports, in the absence of poll watchers and observers from the opposition, civil society, and international organizations and institutions. Despite these irregularities, however, voting did take place more or less orderly in the overwhelming majority of some 60,000 polling stations, and the results as recorded in signed minutes by poll watchers do constitute a reliable reflection of the expressed wishes of the Congolese electorate.

2.   From these minutes and based on poll station returns the electoral results clearly show that Mr. Etienne Tshisekedi, the veteran democracy leader, did win the presidential election with a majority estimated at 52.6 percent of the total votes cast. The falsification of electoral returns took place at the so-called compilation center, where the Electoral Commission carried out one of the most shameful fraudulent operations in the history of electoral administration. Most of the results announced by the so-called “Independent” National Electoral Commission (CENI) bear no resemblance to the actual returns from individual poll stations. In statements made public respectively on December 12 and 17, 2011, Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo, Archbishop of Kinshasa and primate of the Roman Catholic Church in the DRC and Vital Kamerhe, former Speaker of Parliament and a presidential candidate himself, pointed out some of the most obvious falsifications of the electoral returns compiled and announced by CENI. Moreover, international electoral observer missions (e.g., the Carter Center, the European Union, the International Crisis Group, the group of SADC region NGOs) and journalists have also underlined the falsification of the returns at the compilation level. In trying to remain in the office of President, based on fraudulent electoral results, Joseph Kabila is attempting to usurp power in the DRC, and is therefore in violation of both our country’s constitution, which he is supposed to defend and respect, and the African Union’s Resolution against unconstitutional change of government.

3.     Consequently, we are issuing an urgent appeal to the Congolese people to plan and take all appropriate measures to remove Joseph Kabila from power by peaceful means. Having shown their overwhelming support for Etienne Tshisekedi by welcoming him in tens of thousands in all corners of the country during the electoral campaign and having given him a clear majority vote (52.6 percent), the majority of the Congolese people do recognize him as our legitimate President. Article 64 of the Congolese constitution recognizes our right and, indeed our duty, to resist the usurpation or seizure of power by unconstitutional means. We must stage peaceful demonstrations all over the country and in the Congolese Diaspora to resist this usurpation of power that threatens our national sovereignty. It is only through such peaceful demonstrations, as well as by acts of civil disobedience, that we can show to the world that we are not so stupid as to vote for someone who has done nothing for the country in nearly eleven years, and who has instead plunged it to the very bottom of the current Human Development Index, namely, at the 187^th place out of 187 countries surveyed by the United Nations Development Programme. It is by these actions that we will show to the peoples of the world that we are not so foolish and weak that we would let the victory of the democratic struggle of our people to be stolen by any autocratic coalition.

4.   We also launch an urgent appeal to the international community, beginning with major world powers, including the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Canada and France, as well as the emerging markets of China, Brazil, India, South Africa, and to international institutions and organizations, to show their avowed commitment to democracy and justice by recognizing Mr. Etienne Tshisekedi as the legitimate president of the DRC. A year ago, the same community of nations did recognize Mr. Alassane Ouattara, as president of Côte d’Ivoire, in similar circumstances, despite the proclamation, by that country’s Constitutional Court, of Mr. Ouattara’s rival, then incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, as the elected president. More recently, following a UN Security Council resolution, which called for the protection of the Libyan civilian population against oppression by the late Muammar Khadafy’s regime, in the absence of any election, the afore-mentioned powers conducted military operations, led by NATO troops, and supported the installation of the leaders of the rebel movement, as a legitimate government of Libya. For the Congolese people, Mr. Etienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba has emerged as the winner of the presidential election in the DRC. Mr. Tshisekedi therefore is the new legitimate representative of the deepest aspirations of the Congolese people for democracy and social justice in a country that has had a long history of criminal exploitation.

5.   Mr. Tshisekedi’s recognition by the international community as the legitimate and democratically elected president of the DRC will end the current crisis and save the Congo from further violence and unnecessary loss of life under the oppression of Joseph Kabila’s security forces. Failure to support Mr. Tshisekedi will constitute a flagrant instance of hypocrisy and double standards, particularly for those states that claim to stand for democracy and human rights. Justice affirmed or denied will be remembered for decades to come in the DRC. As Congolese patriots, we are determined as ever before to reclaim our sovereignty and destiny. In this quest, we now have the opportunity to know whom our true friends and enemies are in the world today.

Prepared by

The Center for Research on the Congo (CEREC)

Urbana, IL 61801; USA

February 9, 2012

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