The North Kivu region, where a rebel insurrection has raised doubts about the state’s ability to hold elections there in December, has begun to register voters as of this week.
The M23 rebel organization, a Tutsi-led militia that has been fighting the Congolese army for almost a year, has taken control of some territory in North Kivu province. Fighting has compelled more than 500,000 people to leave their homes.
Paul Mohindo, the deputy rapporteur of the Congolese electoral commission, who traveled from Kinshasa to organize the beginning of registration on Thursday, said, “We are convinced that even these Congolese will have the right to register.”
On December 20, Congo is scheduled to hold presidential and parliamentary elections.
According to him, supplies and personnel have already arrived in Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, and will soon be sent to other cities and displaced person camps. The province anticipates registering over five million voters.
The best course of action, according to Odette Zaninga, who fled their home in the village of Rugari four months ago with her eight children, is for the authorities to take them back home and enroll them there.