APA-Lusaka (Zambia) President Hakainde Hichilema has appointed former Zambian vice president Enoch Kavindele as head of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) election observer mission (SEOM) to monitor next week’s Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) elections.
The DRC is due to hold presidential, legislative and provincial elections on December 20.
According to the Botswana-based SADC Secretariat, Kavindele would be tasked with the responsibility “to coordinate the SEOM, including facilitation of in-country deployment of observers.”
“The SEOM will be deployed to eighteen (18) out of twenty-six (26) provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo to observe the pre- and post-election phases and the polling day,” the SADC Secretariat said in a statement on Wednesday.
Hichilema also appointed Zambian diplomat Lazarous Kapambwe as the alternate head of the SADC observer mission.
The mission is expected to assess the conduct of the DRC elections in accordance with the revised SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections of 2021.
The principles emphasise the importance of citizen participation in the democratic and development processes, the implementation of measures to prevent political violence, intimidation, and intolerance, and the promotion of equal opportunities for all political parties to access state media and for all citizens to access information.
The principles also emphasise the significance of acceptance and respect for the election results by all political parties.
To observer mission, which comprises officials from various SADC member states, is expected to be officially launched on Friday in the DRC capital Kinshasa.
JN/APA