08.06.09 Monuc: Revision of the electoral roll begins in Kinshasa

 

The
process is designed to enable people who were unable to register in
2005 to do so, allow registered voters who have changed residential
address to update their registration details and those who have lost
their voter cards to obtain new ones, first-time voters who will have
reached voting age of 18 years by 2011 are also able to register.

Early participation in the exercise got off to a slow start and then
picked up as the day progressed with numerous Kinois turning up at many
of the of the 143 registration offices.

“Participation has been massive”, officials of the Independent
Electoral Commission IEC) said of the operation’s opening day which
they called a success.

The whole operation is due to last until 5 August 09.

The IEC President, Abbé Appollinaire Malumalu, the Minister of the
Interior, Célestin Mbuyu, the Governor of Kinshasa, André Kimbuta, and
the Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations
Secretary-General for the DRC, Ross Mountain, visited sseveral
registration offices, including those located at the Institut Supérieur
des Techniques Appliquées and the Ecole de la Gare, in the Gombe
commune of Kinshasa.

Mr. Mountain commended the IEC for the organisation of the operations,
noting that "the IEC has done much work to get at the point where we
are now. The train is underway".

The IEC now looks forward to passage of the law on ‘deconcentrated
entities’ by the National Assembly before the latter concludes its
current ordinary session on 15 June. This legislation, which deals with
those territories, “groupements”, and villages that are under the
authority of provincial governments.