Antoinette N'SAMBA KALAMBAYI

In order to protect the young democracy of the Democratic Republic of Congo and to avoid interference by other institutions in the electoral process, the Independent National Electoral Commission was established as a permanent and neutral public law body with legal personality. Its mission is to organize free, democratic and transparent elections in complete independence and impartiality. However, this institution does not enjoy any freedom in practice and is even excessively influenced by other entities, allowing a masked dictatorship and an unprecedented cover-up of cheating. How is this possible? In my book, I intend to demonstrate how the CENI is highly politicized in the appointment of its leaders and how it is an institution tailor-made to serve the government, creating countless dysfunctions. Richly detailed, this essay denounces the organized sharing of electoral positions, a real machine for manufacturing political leaders that the people have not elected.