Congo anxious on eve of historic election

KINSHASA, Congo — The retiree still recalls his nation's first election in 1960. After casting his vote, he partied in the streets with millions of others in a post-independence euphoria.

Forty-six years later, decades filled with dictatorship and war, this Central African country returns to the polls today for what is only the third free election in its history. This time, retired taxi driver François Mpaku Nsabu, 73, sees no reason to celebrate. Fearful the election will spur violence, he's unsure he'll even vote.

"I don't trust the process," Nsabu said, sitting outside his cinder-block shed in a filthy Kinshasa slum. "What do we have to be happy about nowadays? I'm afraid this will only make things worse."

The historic poll in Congo places the huge country in the middle of the continent at the start of a new chapter in its long, troubled history. World leaders are betting elections will usher in democracy. Others worry it could throw the nation back into civil war.

Tensions ran high in the weeks leading up to the vote. Clashes involving police and militias controlled by leading presidential candidates killed at least a dozen people.

Logistical challenges

International election organizers, who have spent $400 million on the vote, have had to overcome enormous logistical challenges in a country the size of Western Europe that has only 300 miles of paved roads. Still, they predicted the vote would meet international standards.

"All the pieces are more or less in place," said William Lacy Swing, the U.N. special representative to Congo. Swing dismissed "doomsday scenarios," insisting that Congolese are tired of war and eager to proceed with the vote.

Even amid increased anxiety, election fever was apparent, in the countryside and on the streets of the capital. Campaign posters for the 33 presidential and 9,700 parliamentary candidates plastered nearly every tree trunk, utility pole and fence in Kinshasa. Tens of thousands swarmed to final rallies.

Ramifications will spread far beyond Congo's borders. History has shown that when Congo is in turmoil, so are its neighbors. A 1996 revolution to overthrow strongman Mobutu Sese Seko, a one-time U.S. ally, turned into what was called Africa's First World War, drawing in 11 African nations and killing 4 million people, mostly from disease and hunger.

"The election is important for the entire continent," says Caty Clement, the Central Africa project director for International Crisis Group, a conflict-resolution analyst. "If you can stabilize this country, you can stabilize a lot of Africa."

Congo has long symbolized Africa's promise and its horrors. Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" captured of one of history's ugliest colonializations, by Belgian King Leopold II in the late 1800s. In 1965, Mobutu, in his characteristic leopard-skin hat, began a brutal 32-year reign, looting an estimated $4 billion.

Doom of Mobutu rule

The collapse of the Soviet Union helped spell the end of Mobutu's rule as Washington, D.C., shifted away from such Cold War allies. With help from Rwanda and Uganda, rebel leader Laurent Kabila drove Mobutu into exile in 1997. But a year later, Kabila broke ties with his eastern neighbors, who invaded Congo's mineral-rich northeast and backed an effort to overthrow him.

After five years of bloodshed, an internationally brokered peace agreement created a coalition government from leaders of rebel groups, led by Joseph Kabila, whose father had been assassinated in 2001.

The elections are to replace what most people believe has been a weak, ineffective transitional government. Parts of the country remain largely under the control of rebel leaders. The northeastern region is terrorized by armed groups despite efforts of the world's largest U.N. peacekeeping force, totaling nearly 17,000 troops.

Aid groups estimate more than 1,000 die daily due to Congo's instability and conflict. More than 80 percent of the people survive on less than 30 cents a day.

At the same time, Congo has natural riches including gold, diamonds, copper and coltan, a mineral used in cellphones. There are vast jungles, and the 2,900-mile Congo River could provide enough hydroelectricity to power the continent.

A recent report by environmental advocate Global Witness found that the transitional government has done little to halt the plunder. It says politicians, including some close to Kabila, have used proceeds from the mines to fund their campaigns.