Some events, though draped in the appearance of order and legality, conceal the seeds of deep systemic decay. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s presidential and legislative elections of December 2018 belong to this category.
Initially presented as a historic opportunity for a peaceful transfer of power after Joseph Kabila’s eighteen-year rule, the process instead became an institutional trauma from which the Congolese society has yet to recover.
Conducted in an atmosphere of mistrust, marred by unexplained delays, and riddled with irregularities, the vote was managed by an Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) whose opaque operations deepened suspicion rather than dispelled it. Disputed voting machines, technical anomalies, and incomplete turnout figures created fertile ground for backroom arrangements.
From the earliest hours, the anticipated breath of democratic renewal was tainted by the scent of fraud. Both national and international observers notably the Catholic Church reported significant discrepancies between independent tallies and the official results. The prevailing perception was that the outcome was dictated not by the ballot box, but by political arbitration at the highest level.
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The Republic as Hostage: Secret Pacts and the Survival of the Old Order
Unofficial accounts pointed to a discreet agreement between the outgoing regime and one of the main candidates a narrative never officially confirmed, yet reinforced by the post-electoral power structure. Félix Tshisekedi, declared the winner, inherited a state apparatus whose most critical levers remained firmly in the hands of Kabila’s coalition.
This scenario epitomizes the perversion of a captured electoral process: political alternation becomes purely symbolic, networks of influence endure, and transitions are conducted behind closed doors, far removed from citizen aspirations. Elections cease to be instruments of popular sovereignty and instead become arenas for political bargaining a market where power is negotiated rather than won.
The Fallout: Erosion of Legitimacy, Radicalization, and Political Deadlock
The most corrosive legacy of the flawed 2018 elections was the irreversible erosion of political legitimacy. A president born of controversy lacks both the moral authority and the institutional stability to drive transformative reforms. Distrust, rather than fading over time, became entrenched in the political and social fabric.
Two outcomes followed. First, weakened institutions were reduced to tools of predation, serving clans and individuals who valued loyalty to networks over service to the public good. Second, parts of the political opposition, seeing no prospect for honest elections, turned to extra-parliamentary and in some cases armed forms of resistance.
Perhaps the most telling symbol of this democratic decay was the trajectory of a key CENI figure, who, after overseeing the disputed vote, later joined a rebel movement. This transformation from electoral official to armed actor starkly illustrates the collapse of a system in which peaceful political competition has become a dead end.
Breaking the Cycle: Rebuilding the Republic on Merit
Perpetuating “cosmetic elections” to sustain the illusion of democracy is an act of destructive cynicism. If the DRC is to break free from this vicious circle, it must embark on a deep reform of its electoral system both technically and ethically.
Such reform must be accompanied by moral restoration: the establishment of electoral truth commissions, judicial proceedings against perpetrators of fraud, and a genuine national dialogue to redefine the democratic rules of the game. The Republic of merit will not emerge from superficial adjustments but from a decisive break with falsification, influence-peddling, and the commodification of votes.
The 2018 election was not simply a missed opportunity it was the genesis of an enduring political crisis, the original sin of a governance model built on shaky legitimacy. Until this chapter is closed with a clear act of truth and reform, the DRC will continue to drift between the façade of democracy and institutional paralysis.
Restoring the primacy of merit over backroom calculations and returning the ballot box to its sacred role as the people’s voice is the moral and political imperative without which no real alternation of power can occur, and no Republic can stand firm.
