Minister must explain SADC's support for flawed DRC election
Reports indicate that the SADC mission observing the recent Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) elections has applauded the "sterling job" done by the DRC's national election commission and has joined the African Union (AU) in urging candidates to accept the outcome of the poll they deem to have been "successful". This SADC mission is led by the South African Minister of Correctional Services Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
This response is bizarre, given the concerns expressed by the international community and four DRC presidential candidates about electoral irregularities.
I will today be writing to Minister Mapisa-Nqakula to request a copy of the full report of the SADC mission. In addition, I will ask her to explain why her mission has chosen to overlook the serious problems with the DRC's poll, and in so doing, failed to abide by its own standards.
The "SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections" provides a benchmark for democratic elections in Africa. According to a report released yesterday by the Institute for Democracy in Africa (IDASA) the DRC elections are non-compliant in terms of six of the ten SADC guidelines, including: