DRC: Voter registration postponed in Kasai-Central and Kasai May 1

Event

The government announced on Monday, May 1, that the voter registration originally scheduled to start on Sunday, April 30, had been indefinitely postponed in Kasai-Central and Kasai provinces following the killing of an electoral official by the Kaminua Nsapu militia and the destruction of electoral materials and offices on April 3. According to a government spokesperson, a new date for the voter registration will be scheduled following discussions with senior officials in the two provinces.

Context

The Kamuina Nsapu militia has been mounting an insurgency against the government in Kasai-Central province since April 2016.  Fighting escalated following the death of its leader in clashes with the army in August 2016, and fighting has since spread into Kasai, Kasai-Oriental, and Lomami provinces. The ongoing crisis in the Kasai region brings the estimated total number of DRC’s internally displaced persons (IDPs) to 2 million.

Attacks by the group, which target police, military officials, and civilians perceived as supporting or representing the government, have become commonplace in these areas in recent months; over 400 people, many of them women and children, have been killed in the violence since August 2016. Moreover, the United Nations has reported finding 40 mass graves in the region, as well as the abduction and murder of two UN researchers (one Swedish and one US national) investigating violations of international sanctions and humanitarian law in March.

The DRC has been struggling under a political crisis brought on by President Joseph Kabila’s insistence on remaining in power beyond the end of his term, originally slated for December 20, 2016; the current situation has led to repeated incidents of violence between security forces and angry residents. An agreement to co-manage the country and end the crisis was signed on December 31 between the political majority and the opposition, under the auspices of the Congolese Catholic Church. The agreement provided for the organization of the presidential election at the end of 2017, which remains uncertain given the difficulty to reach a final agreement between all political parties.

Advice

Individuals present in the DRC are advised to monitor local media for updates and to avoid all political events and public gatherings as violence may flare up without warning.

Due to these and other security concerns, many Western governments advise their citizens against all travel to the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu (particularly outside the cities of Goma and Bukavu), as well as the northeast portion of Eastern province and the northern part of Katanga due to the presence of armed groups. Certain governments also advise against nonessential travel to the rest of the country.