Kinshasa, December 15th of 2023.

Awaited by many, the general elections of the DRC, internationally observed by Ethiopia, the African Union, the European Union, China and the United States, is going to be the most important election in years.

Since the fall of Mobutu Sese Seko during the 1990s, the DRC only had one democratic election, in 2018, which still suffered from a major constitutional crisis, as the people feared that Joseph Kabila would lead the Congolese nation into another Zaire.

Fortunately for the people, democracy prevailed, and Félix Tshisekedi was elected. To the people, and to analysts, Félix’s role was to be the bridge between democracy and authoritarianism, the ruling party and the new party, but that’s over now.

Félix executed his role with perfect precision; even though hiccups have occurred, and now it’s finally time to provide the DRC with the first completely democratic elections that it will have in its post-Zaire history.

The General Election

Before a conversation started on the Presidential race, the most important part of the government was the National Assembly, and the race for it was brutal and harsh; competitiveness was at an all-time high with the DA rising hard as it competed for every single elector.

Propaganda between the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Common Front for Congo (FCC) was intense, and consisted of hours upon hours of data being poured into the minds of the Congolese; Katumbi pressed hard his anti-corruption rhetoric and donated personal funds of his to dozens of charities on the poorer regions of the DRC in an attempt to garner the sympathy of the people.

To begin, the National Assembly was a mess of votes; with a turnout of 55.5%, or 56.7 mn Congolese voting, the system was already overwhelmed, as it still lacked major funding; the electoral training received by the UN meant that tampering and interference with vote counts were impeded by the Congolese police and staff responsible for vote counts.

The composition of the National Assembly was, after some analyzing, a total of 205 seats to the Democratic Alliance, or 41%, 185 seats for the FCC, or 37%, and 110 seats for the MLC, or 22%. This was already hailed as a major victory for the DA, but they still had to do major negotiations with the MLC in order to attain a majority and be able to pass the necessary bills.

Meanwhile the Senate was composed of 42 seats for the DA, or 39%, with 1 seat for Félix Tshisekedi for his life position, 34 seats for the FCC, 30%, with 1 seat for Joseph Kabila for his life position, and 32 seats for the MLC, or 22%.

In the gubernatorial races, the victory was lukewarm, albeit more decent than otherwise; the DA won 11 provinces, the FCC won 9 and the MLC won 6; this meant that a lot of cooperation would be necessary, and a lot of monitoring as well, especially in FCC-controlled areas; both Félix and Katumbi were concerned about corruption spikes.

After analyzing the situation, it seems that the DA is in a good position for governing, but it requires a lot of political management and a lot of negotiation with the MLC; they are in good terms with the DA, but even with that kind support, they must be careful in which bills they pass, as to ensure that they will not annoy the other half of the coalition and end up in a minority government, which would be a major defeat for the first democratically elected government in the history of the DRC.

The Presidential Election

The big leagues of the DRC were definitely the Presidential race, everyone was excited to see both Moïse Katumbi and Adolphe Muzito duke it out with a barrage of debates, smear campaigns and fierce competition.

Muzito was eager to accuse Katumbi of using his enterprises for his own profit, and campaigned hard against “big businesses” and against “exploitative practices”; Muzito accused both Félix and Moïse of opening up the DRC for foreign companies, and in exchange, received major donations and contributions which enriched themselves, which leaving the population of the Eastern Congo miserable.

Meanwhile Katumbi accused Adolphe of participating in corruption schemes and being an accomplice in the attempted assassination of the presidential nominee; in general, the race was harsh, but the Kabilists had truly ruined themselves with the failed assassination.

The anti-corruption rhetoric was beating hard on the hearts of the Congolese, both urban and rural; corruption was pervasive, and every Congolese had suffered at least once from some type of corruption, and it hit hard. The pro-Katumbi demonstrations, which reached over 20,000 people in Kinshasa, were covered by the RTNC. In the end, the RTNC website had shown everything; the result was clear for everyone to see. A major landslide victory for the new President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Moïse Katumbi.

The cheers were unbelievable in the streets of Kinshasa, that Katumbi had truly won the election. With a total of 61.3% of the votes, it was a total landslide; with Félix Tshisekedi as his running mate, Katumbi had essentially secured his position and his victory; that, combined with his anti-corruption rhetoric and his pledges to develop the DRC have conjured a recipe for victory.

The Speech

Muzito dropped out of the race, and Katumbi was declared the new president; with that, in front of millions of people, televised by RTNC, the entrepreneur, politician and anti-corruption activist, began his speech.

“Victory. That word, victory, it resounds through history, you know? It has echoes; victory, for some, is as simple as getting a plate of food at the end of the day, for others, a victory is to, I don’t know, eliminate world hunger, acquire world peace, win a Nobel prize even. For me, victory, well, victory is a goal, it’s a goal greater than any other; it’s a triumph, its glory; but today, for me, isn’t a victory. You heard me right, it’s not a victory, but it is, indeed, a step towards one. To simply rule a nation, to be given that privilege, it means nothing if you can’t provide bread to the food of your poorest citizen, it means nothing if, if you can see the bones on a child’s ribcage as it looks at you, having eaten four days ago. Is it really a victory? We, together, all of us, are making one, big step towards victory today; but I’ll only have victory, when the Democratic Republic of the Congo is prosperous, when the Congo is free of corruption, when the Congo is lauded internationally as a champion of democracy, of freedom, of human rights, when each and every Congolese has bread on their table! When every crooked politician is in jail! When we, are, free, to vote, travel, eat what we want, to be prosperous, to look at a brand-new television on the store and have accessible ways to buy it, to buy a house, to buy a car, to have, a, family! Then, but only then, when the Congolese people are victorious, will I have my victory. Let’s not rest today, because our march, our united march towards victory, starts tomorrow.”