AFRICA/CONGO DR - The publication of the results of presidential elections has been postponed, tension is high in Kinshasa

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - "The tension in the city has not decreased, there is very little traffic, also because several activities have been closed and parents have preferred not to send their children to school," said local Church sources to Fides from Kinshasa, where Yesterday, December 6, the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed to publish the full results of the November 28 presidential elections for 48 hours , because the minutes of all the election centers have not yet been received. "Controversies were born because the mandate of outgoing President Kabila (who is ahead in the partial counting of votes) seems to have expired yesterday. But a spokesman of the Presidency said that, according to the Constitution, the President's mandate does not expire until the election of the new Head of State is proclaimed. The opposition instead claims that Kabila has to resign, and the function of Head of State is taken provisionally by the President of the Senate", say sources of Fides.
"The authorities have banned gatherings and movements of more than 4 people, while the local radio station transmits very little information on the elections," say our sources. The Congolese Episcopal Conference has announced that it cannot publish reports of its election observers deployed throughout the country, because many of them are unable to communicate with Kinshasa because of the interruption of communications via SMS. "The possibility to send SMS has been interrupted for 3 days, but the internet connections work. One reason for blocking SMS is to prevent parties to increase the tension by sending their electoral data to the population". On other occasions (as in Kenya in 2008) SMS were used to spread messages of hate and organize violent protests. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 07/12/2011)