DR Congo refugees put little faith in coming elections

Instead, they seek refuge in one of the nine countries that border this vast central African country which covers some 2.3 million square kilometres (919,595 square miles).

For Jean-Bienvenu Likanzu-Mokolo from Kinshasa, safety meant fleeing across the Congo River to Brazzaville, capital of the neighbouring Republic of Congo.

Twin capitals, the Kinshasa is visible across the water from Brazzaville’s southern districts — which is why the 50-year-old prefers to stay in the northern part of the city.

“It’s too painful to see Kinshasa,” he says.

An associate of opposition heavyweight Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former warlord who went into exile in 2007, Likanzu-Mokolo fled Kinshasa a decade ago under cover of night, escaping in a wooden canoe.

Now head of an association of 15,000 DRC refugees, Likanzu-Mokolo had thought he could finally return home when Bemba announced his intention to run in the upcoming elections.

But with Bemba barred from running, Likanzu-Mokolo is now thinking of moving even further away.

– Deprived of a vote –

Deprived of voting rights, these refugees can only watch the vote from the sidelines, along with all their compatriots living elsewhere in the world.

“I can’t vote because I am here in Zambia as a refugee, and it hurts me,” said Martin Mputu Bakole, who used to live near Lubumbashi, DR Congo’s second city which lies in the south-east, close to the Zambian border.

But 20 years ago he fled, and today he repairs watches in Lusaka.

Pierre-Marie Lukungu also left Lubumbashi in the 1990s for Lusaka. Today he is leader of the Congolese community in Zambia.

“From the time of independence up to this day, Congo has never had good elections,” he said of a country which has never known a peaceful transition of power since independence from Belgium in 1960.

“Congo has never had a past president who is living. Presidents come into power through coups and leave through coups.”

Which is why international observers are needed to ensure the elections are held properly, he says.

Without them, the elections would be “chaotic” and “dangerous for the Congo, our neighbours and the world at large”.

So far, Kinshasa has accepted 200 African observers, but none from the European Union.