In a world that is turning away from democratic ideals, one place where the concepts are jealously nurtured is among African voters.
That is because most Africans are deprived of the real thing by leaders who organise sham elections, or who cling on through constitutional artifice or brute force.
Yet the democratic flame is alive. The ideal of wanting to be heard, of exercising control and of ejecting bad leaders flickers brightly.
Take the people of Beni in eastern Congo. They were told a few days before the December 30 poll that, for them, the vote was cancelled. Ostensibly that was because of security concerns due to an outbreak of the Ebola virus and militia activity. The people of Beni showed up to vote anyway. Thousands held a “mock election” — a parody of sham elections they fear are being held nationwide — where they placed fake ballots into fake urns and got their fingers inked, presumably with real dye.
Much is at stake in these elections in Congo, a central African nation whose lands are the size of Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Norway and Greece, with Iceland thrown in for good measure. If an opposition party candidate wins, it would mark the first time in Congo’s tumultuous history that power has changed hands through the ballot box.
That will not happen if outgoing president Joseph Kabila can help it. He originally sought to stay on past his constitutional limit of 16 years in power. But the people of Congo would not have it. In the run-up to December 2016, when Mr Kabila was supposed to step down, they took to the streets to protest, often braving truncheons and bullets. Finally he agreed to go, though elections were delayed for two years.
Plan B was to place Mr Kabila’s stooge on the presidential seat. That way Mr Kabila could keep his influence — and perhaps return after five years. Plan B is also faltering. The state pulled out all the tricks of incumbency, denying the opposition the chance to campaign freely and tampering with voting. Yet, according to the Catholic Church, the country’s only credible institution, the people have not voted for Mr Kabila’s chosen candidate, Emmanuel Shadary.
Instead, they appear to have opted for Martin Fayulu, a former ExxonMobil executive who offers at least the hope of change. Felix Tshisekedi, another opposition leader, is also claiming victory amid rumours that he has cut a deal with the ruling elite, an outcome that would also make a farce of the democratic process.
Mr Kabila and his clingers-on have too much at stake to go quietly. They are gatekeepers to the world’s richest reserves of cobalt, without which the electric car revolution will remain a mere twinkle in the eye of Tesla chief Elon Musk. Mr Kabila and crew have grown fabulously — and unaccountably — rich through control of Congo’s vast mineral reserves, which include copper, coltan, uranium, gold and diamonds.
If, as many fear, the electoral commission defies the people by announcing Mr Kabila’s man has won, the country could ignite in frustration. That can still be averted.
First, the commission’s president, Corneille Nangaa, could do the right thing. There are precedents. In 2015, Attahiru Jega, the chairman of Nigeria’s electoral commission, bravely defied expectations by announcing that Goodluck Jonathan, the incumbent, had lost.
Other countries too can put moral pressure on Congo to respect the will of its people. In 2016, when the tiny west African country of Gambia was on an electoral knife edge, the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States persuaded the incumbent to accept defeat. Reluctantly, the dictator Yahya Jammeh packed his loot and departed for exile.
In Congo, the 16-member Southern African Development Community holds the key. South Africa, the giant of the region, has often proved reluctant to interfere in others’ affairs, a reticence that gifted Zimbabweans three decades of Robert Mugabe. This time, it can do better. Congo’s neighbours can cough politely and point Mr Kabila to the door.
Outside powers should also play a role. Too often, western countries put phoney stability above democracy. This time, Donald Trump’s America, perhaps surprisingly, appears to be taking a stand. It has warned Congo’s elite that their bank accounts will be frozen if they steal the vote. Others should follow that lead. Africa is a front in the global struggle for democracy. It is time to stick up for the voter.
