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Research and education think tank, Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) has urged President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) to hand over power to an interim government, pending the holding of elections, as his term of office has expired today,  December 20.

President Kabila has held office for two-terms and he is constitutionally barred from running for another term. An election for a new president was to be held on November 18 this year, but the National Elections Commission said it would not be ready until 2018. Mr. Kabila has said that he plans to stay in office until the election to choose a president takes place.

The opposition accuses President Kabila of delaying the vote in the hope of amending the constitution to enable him to run for another term.

A statement signed by ACILA executive director, Mr. William Nyarko, is urging Mr. Kabila to hand over power to an interim government whose members will be drawn from all stakeholders, including members of the opposition, adding that the dialogue which was sponsored by the Congolese Bishops conference should be pursued expeditiously for the formation of the interim government.

Mr. Nyarko explained that the constitution of the DR Congo provides a two-term limit with each term lasting for five years for the president, adding that since Mr. Kabila has completed his two-five-year terms, he must hand over power to an interim government, of which he will not be a member, to run the affairs of state until elections are held.

He urged the state and international donor community to provide the funds needed by the National Elections Commission to hold general elections as soon as possible.

It is recalled that the international community provided about $460 million to DR Congo for the holding of general elections in 2006, which Mr. Kabila won.

Mr. Kabila took over power from his father, Laurent Kabila, in 2001 when his father was killed. In 2005, a referendum for a new constitution was held and  adopted, paving the way for general elections.

If the elections had been held in November this year and power had been successfully transferred to the president-elect, it would have been the first peaceful transfer of power in the DR Congo since 1960 when it gained independence from Belgium.

Patrice Lumumba won the 1960 election and held on to power until 1965 when he was overthrown by Mobutu Sese Sekou. Laurent Kabila overthrew Sese Sekou in 1997 amidst civil wars in the 1990’s and early 2000’s in which more than 3 million people died.  

ACILA is a non-profit and non-partisan think tank incorporated under US law and Ghana law. Its focus areas are the rule of law, democratic governance, public international law, international human rights, and international criminal justice in Africa.