In Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the standoff between the altar and the presidential palace is far from over. And the head of state, Félix Tshisekedi, finds himself at the heart of the reproaches of the Congolese episcopate. Meeting in Kinshasa at the end of February, the standing committee of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo, commonly called Cenco, published on 1is March a shocking message in which he reviews the hot topical issues in the country, including the end of the FCC-CACH coalition and the ousting of former President Joseph Kabila, the establishment of the union sacred or the formation of the future government. But it is more on the question of electoral reforms with a view to the holding of the general elections of 2023 that the criticisms are heard, to the point of reacting up to the presidency of the Republic.
Catholic Church pins Tshisekedi governance
Bolstered by the place they occupy in the eyes of the Vatican on the African continent and their leading role in a predominantly Christian Catholic country, the bishops of the powerful Church have once again raised their voices in the face of Felix’s regime. Tshisekedi. Invested as President of the Republic in January 2019, the latter then led until last November in coalition with the camp of his predecessor Joseph Kabila. He then put an end to this coalition and embarked on a conquest of all the levers of power.
In their message of 1is March issued to the press by Father Donatien Nshole, spokesperson for Cenco, the bishops began by congratulating President Tshisekedi on his assumption of office at the head of the African Union in this year 2021. “We reassure him to our prayers for a fruitful mandate with repercussions for development and peace in Africa, ”the statement said. Before recognizing the end of the FCC-CACH coalition, whose ineffectiveness they had repeatedly denounced. However, continue the bishops, “these changes were made in an atmosphere of tension and in such a way as to raise questions about the morality of these acts. Massive membership in the Sacred Union should not be motivated only by political positioning, ”they underline.
Indeed, President Tshisekedi has placed his supporters at the head of the three most important political institutions in the country, with Modeste Bahati at the head of the Senate, the election of Christophe Mboso as President of the National Assembly and the appointment of Jean- Michel Sama Lukonde as Prime Minister. The latter closed in early March consultations for the formation of the new government, made up entirely of supporters of the Head of State. The previous team was largely dominated by supporters of Joseph Kabila. The bishops believe that “only men and women who have demonstrated good ethics in their past and who have experience in the required field, concerned about the well-being of the population, deserve to be co-opted to manage the institutions of the state and public enterprises, ”they recommend.
Moreover, the Catholic prelates also deplored the regression observed in the fields of respect for human rights and justice, pointing in particular to the delays in the so-called “100 days” trial. “The concern for justice which was manifested in the trial” which implicated Vital Kamerhe, chief of staff of President Tshisekedi, “does not seem to continue in the same vein. It has faded and seems selective, ”lamented the Congolese Catholic episcopate. “True justice” should extend “without distinction whatsoever to all perpetrators of economic crimes and human rights violations,” the bishops insisted.
2023, already in everyone’s mind
The Catholic Church has not avoided any subject, not even the already thorny one of the next presidential election. The question of the organization of general elections in 2023 is already on everyone’s lips in the Democratic Republic of the Congo two years from the deadline. The Congolese bishops, faithful to their tradition of watchman, have launched hostilities. Indeed, in this last message, the prelates recommended to the authorities to “do everything possible to win the bet of the organization of credible, transparent and peaceful elections in 2023, and not later”.
This recommendation of the Catholic bishops made the President of the Republic tremble, who was quick to react, through a dispatch from his communication cell. According to this dispatch from the presidential press disseminated in social networks and relayed by the media, by relaunching the debate on the holding of the next elections constitutionally fixed in 2023, there is reason to wonder about the skepticism of the Catholic prelates to the extent where the slightest “suspicion of the slippage has never crossed the mind of the one to whom the Congolese entrusted their destiny through the ballot box in December 2018”, supports the presidential text. And to add: “The question of the organization of the elections is the exclusive domain of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Ceni). The interference of the Cenco in what does not come under its competence is simply bewildering, even provocative, for spiritual fathers transformed, for the needs of the cause, in policies committed to the detriment of their sheep left to their own devices. “This reply from the Presidency of the Republic has been widely commented on in the public opinion, which considers it” inopportune “, even unwelcome to the place of a respectful structure and which only reminded the President of the Republic a constitutional provision.
Peter Tiani, journalist and head of the news magazine The True Journal, the question arises: “Is it a sin to remind the President of the Republic of a constitutional duty?” “” Without the pressure of the Catholic bishops, would Felix Tshisekedi be president? He annoys. For his part, Master Lwarhiba, a close friend of the former governor of the wealthy province of Katanga and president of the Almighty Mazembe, Moïse Katumbi, calls on the presidency of the Republic to be sporty: “Take the bishops’ alert with sportsmanship. of Cenco. Mobutu found them wicked, the Kabila described them as haters against their moral authority. Today, we will say everything about them; certainly, tomorrow, they will still be frowned upon. They stay on the side of the people, that’s it. “
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