Doctor Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2018 for his action in favor of raped women, announced on Monday October 2 in Kinshasa his candidacy for the December presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“I agree to be your candidate for President of the Republic,” said the famous 68-year-old gynecologist during a speech to hundreds of enthusiastic people gathered in a conference room. He joins an already long list of opponents who plan to face the outgoing head of state, Félix Tshisekedi, on December 20, in power since January 2019 and candidate for re-election.
“Our country is doing very badly,” said “the man who repairs women” in his speech, his nickname inherited from a documentary devoted to him. He had very harsh words to describe “the crisis” in the DRC in terms of security, politics or human rights, with multiple arrests of opponents and journalists in recent months. “We can’t wait to act […] Tomorrow it will be late, it’s today, that’s why I’m ready and I’m going now,” he insisted, describing himself as “ a rebellious citizen.”
This announcement comes after months of speculation about Dr. Mukwege’s intentions. Since last year, his supporters, including many Congolese intellectuals, have been pushing him to launch into the political battle, an area into which he has not yet ventured even if his voice has long been very critical of the respect for power.
On September 16, from his town of Bukavu (east), he announced that he had received from his supporters the $100,000 deposit required by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) for any presidential candidacy submission. “When the people decide to take power, no system can oppose it,” he said without revealing his intentions. On the ground, two structures support his candidacy: a “Patriotic Appeal”, coming from civil society, and a political platform, the Alliance of Congolese for the Refoundation of the Nation (ACRN).
A scattered opposition
Among the other opponents in the running is Martin Fayulu, unsuccessful candidate in the December 2018 election, who confirmed his presidential candidacy on Saturday. Also in the running, the former governor of Katanga (south-east) and rich businessman Moïse Katumbi should officially submit his candidacy in the coming days.
The deadline for applications is midnight on Sunday, October 8. At the end of last week, the CENI said it had received six, including those from former prime ministers Augustin Matata (2012-2016) and Adolphe Muzito (2008-2012). The presidential election will be coupled with the legislative, provincial and local elections. It is a single-round election, for which, barring alliances and rallies between now and then, the opposition is therefore preparing in dispersed order.
Denis Mukwege’s speech in Kinshasa was broadcast live in two rooms in Bukavu, capital of the province of South Kivu, where his announcement was widely applauded. This is where since 1999, in his clinic in the peripheral district of Panzi, the doctor and his team have been treating women victims of rape, used as a weapon of war in this eastern part of the DRC prey to violence by armed groups. for almost thirty years.
This “war on women’s bodies” continues today and increasingly extends to children, even infants, he recently noted. For years, in the DRC and during his travels abroad, he has deplored impunity, called for an international tribunal and pleaded for “transitional justice” to heal the wounds of wounded populations.