Congolese living in Tanzania to vote during their country’s election next year

DRC ambassador to Tanzania Jean Mutamba

What you need to know:

From next month the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Tanzania will begin voters’ registration and all Congolese are invited to use their constitutional right.

Dar es Salaam. For the first time the Congolese legally residing in Tanzania will use their constitutional right to vote during the General Election scheduled for December next year.

From next month the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Tanzania will begin voters’ registration and all Congolese are invited to use their constitutional right.

The country has seen widespread anger over President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to relinquish power after his second term ended in December 2016. He took power after his father was assassinated in 2001 and was elected in 2006 and 2011.

“This is an opportunity for all Congolese, so I advise them to come in big numbers and will help them visit their embassy,” said DRC ambassador to Tanzania Jean Mutamba in a press conference on Thursday, November 9.

He noted that the DRC was due to have the General Election in 2016, but the national electoral commissioner announced that it was not possible due to ongoing conflict in Kasai Region and a need for a national registry of eligible voters “but now everything is settled”.

However, he clarified that the embassy lacked statistics of the Congolese living in Tanzania, adding that registration could be a good opportunity to get exact figures.

He explained further that the electoral calendar showed from November 3 up to January 18, the committee would finalise the voters’ identification at registration centres of Kasai, Kasai Central, Luilu and Kamji.

He said so far about 40 million voters had been registered. “There was an election crisis, but my government sat with the opposition and resolved it,” he noted.