US embassy cable - 05KINSHASA1289

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001289 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08//10/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, KPKO, PREL, CG 
SUBJECT: VOTER REGISTRATION CENTER IN KASAI ORIENTAL 
ATTACKED 
 
 
Classified By: Poloff Gons Nachman for Reasons 1.4 B and D 
 
1. (SBU) An unidentified individual set fire to a voter 
registration center in Mbuji Mayi, Kasai Oriental, August 9, 
causing slight injuries to four people, and minor damage to 
the registration equipment, Independent Electoral Commission 
(CEI) officials said. According to these officials, around 11 
am, someone climbed a back wall and threw gasoline at the 
registration center, lit a fire, and fled. Electoral workers 
and the local population promptly put down the fire. Four 
people waiting to be registered suffered minor burns to their 
legs and some cables were damaged. 
 
2. (SBU) Although the police are investigating the incident 
and no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, the 
voter registration center is located in the same neighborhood 
as Etienne Tshisekedi's Union for Democracy and Social 
Progress' (UDPS) provincial headquarters. CEI officials and 
the local population suspect UDPS militants are responsible 
for trying to burn down the registration center in Mbuji 
Mayi. (Note: UDPS leaders in Kasai Oriental have called on 
their supporters to boycott the voter registration process as 
"flawed". According to CEI officials, however, most UDPS 
supporters in Kinshasa registered to vote and they are doing 
so in Kasai Oriental as well. End Note.) 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
3. (C) The attack against the voter registration center in 
Mbuji Mayi, along with UDPS' calls for a boycott of voter 
registration in Kasai Oriental are part of a UDPS effort to 
derail the electoral process. The overwhelming majority of 
Congolese, however, have expressed their support for the 
electoral process and are unlikely to follow UDPS' lead. 
Tshisekedi is running out of time to join the process and 
 
SIPDIS 
risks further isolation from the international community and 
many potential Congolese voters if he continues to pursue an 
obstructionist policy opposed to long-desired DRC democratic 
elections. 
MEECE