Quakers assist election in Congo
Quakers act as election observers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Quakers from Kinshasa Monthly Meeting have acted as election observers in the presidential election, held on November 28, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Bakamana Mouana, director of Project Muinda, and Terese Mutopa, general secretary of Femmes pour la Paix, have informed Friends around the world of the Quaker contribution to the election process.
They write: ‘We have been able to train and prepare one hundred of our neighbourhood peace committee members to be election observers. Canadian Friends Service Committee has also sent us five Canadians to join our team. Our country and our city are in turmoil. We hope, by this election observation activity, to reduce the opportunities for violence during and after the presidential election’.
Their service committee, Muinda Project for Peace, has co-ordinated ‘peace cells’ in Kinshasa – creating one in each neighbourhood – and are active in Quaker Peace Network Africa (QPN). Election observation has been a motivating activity for QPN since 2004.
