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ABSTRACT
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) held multi-party elections in 2006, 2011 and 2018. This paper highlights that ethnic socio-cultural associations in former Katanga province have been politically involved in the DRC’s electoral process. Such associations were originally founded in cities to organise mutual aid among migrants hailing from the same region. The attractiveness of ethnicity as a frame of reference for the electorate seems to increase in the context of a weak state failing to deliver public goods. Ethnicity potentially influences voting behaviour in the DRC, as it is assumed that in return for votes, elected elites will prioritise their ethnic community. The ruling PPRD party has instrumentalised ethnic associations in Katanga to support Joseph Kabila’s presidential candidacy, as well as legislative candidates of the presidential majority. These ethnic associations have in turn tried to influence the outcome of elections in favour of their communities, e.g. by limiting the number of co-ethnic candidates per constituency to avoid ethnic vote splitting and thereby maximising the chances of success for candidates from their own group. Their efforts have not always been successful; elections enable voters to hold elites accountable for not keeping their promises once elected.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the editors and the anonymous reviewers of the Journal of Eastern African Studies, along with Jan Gorus and Dimokritos Kavadias for their comments and fruitful discussions, and the researchers at the Centre of Excellence for Study of Local Democracy in Lubumbashi, for their research assistance in the DRC.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Kadima, Leonard, and Schmidt, “Elections and Democratization,” 44.
2 The Carter Center, Presidential and Legislative Elections 2011, 62; Englebert, “Congo’s 2018 Elections.”
3 Vila-ki-Kanda, “Tribalisme et élections,” 198–9.
4 In July 2015, Katanga was split into the provinces of Haut-Katanga, Lualaba, Haut-Lomami and Tanganyika in accordance with the 2006 Constitution mandating the decentralization of power and installation of 26 provinces.
5 Larmer, Rethinking African Politics, 4, 21.
6 Berman, “Ethnicity, Patronage and the African State,” 315; Cheeseman, Democracy in Africa, 22–3.
7 Lemarchand, Political Awakening, 192–7; Morrison and Hong, “Ghana’s Political Parties,” 626.
8 Cheeseman, Democracy in Africa, 25; Englebert and Dunn, Inside African Politics, 91–2.
9 Bayart, L’Etat en Afrique, 272; Bratton and Van de Walle, “Neopatrimonial Regimes,” 459–60.
10 Berman, “Ethnicity and Democracy,” 15.
11 Englebert and Dunn, Inside African Politics, 132; Berman, “Ethnicity, Patronage and the African State,” 336.
12 Berman, “Ethnicity and Democracy,” 25–6.
13 Birch, Concepts and Theories, 140–1; Lindberg, “Have the Cake and Eat It,” 947.
14 Lipset, “Indispensability of Political Parties,” 48; Doherty, “Democracy Out of Balance,” 32; Sartori, Parties and Party Systems, 24.
15 Katz and Mair, “Changing Models of Party Organization,” 13; Mair, “Democracy Beyond Parties”, 14–16; Liddiard, “Are Political Parties in Trouble?,” 7–8.
16 Mair, “Political Parties and Democracy,” 10–11.
17 Van de Walle, “Presidentialism and Clientelism,” 304–5; Erdmann, “Party Research,” 36–7; Djoli Eseng’Ekeli, “Les partis politiques,” 615.
18 Van de Walle, “Presidentialism and Clientelism,” 305; Mozaffar and Scarritt, “Puzzle of African Party Systems,” 414–15; Erdmann, “Party Research,” 44–5.
19 Basedau and Stroh, “How Ethnic are African Parties?” 19–20; Elischer, Political Parties in Africa, 221–2.
20 Gyimah-Boadi, “Political Parties, Elections and Patronage,” 25.
21 Pitkin, Concept of Representation; Randall, “Political Parties in Africa,” 101.
22 Bogaards, Basedau, and Hartmann, “Ethnic Party Bans in Africa,” 599–601.
23 Bogaards, “Electoral Systems, Party Systems,” 187.
24 Geschiere and Gugler, “The Urban-Rural Connection,” 309.
25 Ceuppens and Geschiere, “Autochthony: Local or Global?” 391.
26 Woods, “Elites, Ethnicity,” 466, 479.
27 Ojukwu and Nwaorgu, “Ethnic Elite Organisation,” 108.
28 N’Sanda Buleli, Ethnicité et “géopolitique”, 104; Gobbers “Ethnic Associations in Katanga,” 224–6; Fontana, “Between War and Peace.”
29 Lemarchand, Political Awakening, 177–8.
30 Bakajika, Partis et société civile, 50.
31 Lemarchand, Political Awakening, 239; Dibwe Dia Mwembu and Mutombo, Vivre ensemble au Katanga, 44–5.
32 Bustin, Lunda Under Belgian Rule, 181.
33 Young, Politics of the Congo, 302.
34 Kennes and Larmer, The Katangese Gendarmes, 48–9.
35 Young and Turner, The Rise and Decline, 149; Dibwe Dia Mwembu and Mutombo, Vivre ensemble au Katanga, 46–7.
36 In accordance with Mobutu’s authenticity ideology, the country’s name was changed to ‘Zaire’.
37 Vlassenroot, “Reading the Congolese Crisis,” 42–3.
38 Interview, board member Divar, 15 February 2011; interview, board member Lwanzo Lwa Mikuba, 14 October 2016.
39 Bakajika, Épuration ethnique en Afrique, 184–5. Ethnic groups consider themselves autochthonous of a province if they can claim specific regions within it as their ancestral lands.
40 Dibwe Dia Mwembu and Mutombo, Vivre ensemble au Katanga, 52; Kennes and Larmer, The Katangese Gendarmes, 158–9.
41 The constitutional amendment of 5 February 2011 allows a candidate to be elected president with a relative majority, nullifying the absolute majority requirement in the 2006 Constitution.
42 The Carter Center, International Election Observation Mission, 108–11; The Carter Center, Presidential and Legislative Elections 2011, 62.
43 Djoli Eseng’Ekeli, “Les partis politiques,” 615; Fondation Konrad Adenauer, Les partis politiques congolais, 18–19.
44 Englebert and Kalumba, “La politique au Congo,” 34–6.
45 Gobbers, “Ethnic Associations in Katanga,” 223.
46 Provinces are subdivided into territories, territories into chiefdoms or sectors, chiefdoms/sectors into groupements.
47 Interview, member of Katangan parliament, 28 February 2013.
48 Ibid.
49 Interview, former member of national parliament (2006–2011), 11 March 2013.
50 Interview, member of the association Kulivwa, 4 February 2011.
51 Provincial identity refers to people’s identification with a specific province; ethnic identity relates to a group whose members share cultural traditions and attributes. Within a province, multiple ethnic communities claim parts of the territory as their ancestral land.
52 Katumba Mwanke was a wealthy member of Sempya, co-founder of the PPRD and an influential adviser of Kabila.
53 The Carter Center, International Election Observation Mission, 105; The Carter Center, Presidential and Legislative Elections 2011, 59. The 2011 elections lacked credibility, as noted in an article on The Carter Center website on 9 December 2011.
54 Interview, chairman of Buluba-i-Bukata, 4 February 2011; interview, secretary of Buluba-i-Bukata, 14 February 2011.
55 The electoral law stipulates that citizens should register to vote. Since 2015, the number of seats per constituency has been based on the number of inhabitants per constituency, as per the modified electoral law of 12 February 2015.
56 Interview, board member of Sempya, 23 February 2011. There were two seats to win in Kasenga, largely populated by ethnic groups represented by Sempya, but also with a minority originating from northern Katanga.
57 Interview, member of Sempya, 19 March 2013.
58 Interview, member of Sempya, 5 May 2014.
59 Interview, member of Buluba-i-Bukata, 16 February 2011.
60 Interview, board member of ASSOBAKAT, 30 March 2012.
61 Group interview members of Bunvuano Bwa Batabwa, 1 April 2012.
62 Under the 2006 electoral law, a quotient is used to calculate the number of seats for each party list. These seats are won by candidates with the most votes under each list.
63 Interview, chairman of Association des Songye, 26 March 2012.
64 The letter refers to Kabila’s Majorité Présidentielle.
65 Interview, vice-chairman of ANSALU, 14 February 2011; interview, chairman of ANSALU, 24 February 2011.
66 In 2006 and 2011, UNAFEC only won seats in Katanga.
67 The government tried to modify the electoral law by requiring a new census as a basis for the voter list (a process that would have delayed elections for years) but revoked that modification under pressure from street protests. Finally, the MP and opposition parties signed the Saint Sylvester agreement on 31 December 2016, postponing the elections and stipulating that presidential term limits must not be changed.
68 Kabila’s mother, Sifa Mahanya, originates from Maniema.
69 New provinces were created by converting districts into provinces, though there were exceptions: for example Kolwezi, a district of Katanga, was merged with Lualaba district to create Lualaba province. See Gobbers, “Territorial Découpage.”
70 Letter published by the Rénovateurs in Quiproquo, 22 January 2013.
71 Interview, member of Lwanzo Lwa Mikuba, 14 February 2018.
72 Interview, board member of ASSONDEF, 25 February 2018. Fifi Masuka Saini, chairwoman of ASSONDEF, is vice-governor of Lualaba province.
73 Jené and Englebert, “Découpage, patronage et débauchage,” 150.
74 Interview, member of Buluba-i-Bukata, 14 June 2019.
75 Englebert, “Congo’s 2018 Elections.”
76 Interview, member of Kulivwa, 11 February 2011.
77 Woods, “Elites, Ethnicity,” 479; Ceuppens and Geschiere, “Autochthony: Local and Global?,” 391.