The issue of constitutional reform, which led to riots in 2015 and 2018, is once again on the agenda in the DRC.
Augustin Kabuya, secretary-general of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) ruling Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party, has come under fire for his ill-timed media interventions, a recurring complaint from rivals within his party.
Often when he speaks, listeners wonder whether he is relaying the party’s official stance or personal views. This was the case on 29 September, when Kabuya called for a constitutional overhaul during a speech to supporters in a working-class district of Kinshasa.
“I noticed the shortcomings of this constitution,” he said, referencing his February appointment to assess the parliamentary majority. He added that President Félix Tshisekedi, reelected for a second term in December 2023, had effectively lost six months due to disputes over election results, negotiating political appointments, and forming a government.
“If we consider that the fifth year is devoted to election preparations, in practice, he only has three years to govern. The five years are just on paper,” Kabuya said. “I’ve discussed these details with key figures in the country. Let our constitutional experts revisit these provisions written by foreigners.”
The constitution, enacted in February 2006 after a three-year political transition that saw former combatants unite under the unique 1+4 formula (one president and four vice presidents), marked the start of the DRC’s Third Republic. It has since overseen four electoral cycles.
“In 2006, we in the UDPS did not agree with the constitution and promised our people that when in power, we would amend it. Today, the people have placed us in power, and we will honour our commitment,” Kabuya reiterated in a video shared on social media a few days after his speech.
Since its introduction, the constitution has been revised once – in 2011, when the DRC switched from a two-round presidential election to a single-round vote. Under Article 220, certain elements of the constitution are off-limits for revision, including the republican form of the state, universal suffrage, the length and number of presidential terms, judicial independence, political pluralism and trade unions.
The issue of presidential term limits, which Kabuya raised in his recent remarks, is widely viewed as a red line. His comments have triggered concern within the opposition and civil society, who fear the government may be manoeuvring to extend Tshisekedi’s stay in office.
“We’re not playing with fire,” cautioned Devos Kitoko, secretary-general of Martin Fayulu’s opposition party, Engagement for Citizenship and Development. “To suppress internal dissent within your party by fabricating external conflicts is a reckless and dangerous way to manage the affairs of state.”
Jean-Claude Katende, an activist from the African Association for the Defence of Human Rights, agrees. “How can we, as Congolese, accept changes to the constitution that allow those leading the country through trial and error to extend their power, especially when they’ve failed to deliver in over five years?”
Katende warns that the DRC risks repeating the unrest seen during Joseph Kabila’s presidency, when opposition and civil society, led by the Catholic Church, staged protests between 2015 and 2018 to block Kabila’s attempts at securing a third term. At the time, the UDPS stood firmly against revising the constitution and urged that it be respected.
Past and future revisions
Kabila refrained from changing the constitution. “We lacked courage back then,” says Lambert Mende in his recent article Une décentralisation piégée par les atavismes et la corruption (“Decentralisation trapped by atavisms and corruption”).
Mende, a former spokesperson for Kabila’s government and a staunch defender of the regime, has since joined Tshisekedi’s Sacred Union of the Nation coalition and is now a vocal supporter of constitutional reform.
The question remains: will Tshisekedi cross the same red line?
In May, addressing Congolese nationals in Brussels, the president described the constitution as “obsolete”, asserting that it had been designed to favour warring factions. He argued for reforms to the system of appointing governors, the abolition of proportional representation in legislative elections and a faster transition of power following elections.
Tshisekedi also pledged to establish a commission to “reflect on how to give our country a constitution worthy of the name”.
A favourable context for change?
With a commanding parliamentary majority – more than 95% of the seats in the National Assembly and Senate – Tshisekedi appears well-positioned to push through reforms.
According to Yvon Muya, author of La Révolution Congolaise: Kabila, la rue et l’Alternance (‘The Congolese Revolution: Kabila, the streets and the changeover’), the political context is now more favourable than it was under Kabila.
“Back then, the political opposition, led by the emblematic Étienne Tshisekedi, was strong and united. Kabila also had to contend with the rise of grassroots citizens’ movements,” Muya says.
“These movements were crucial and part of a broader wave of transnational protest that had ousted Blaise Compaoré in Burkina Faso and Abdoulaye Wade in Senegal. Kabila’s efforts to secure a third term occurred against the backdrop of the Arab Spring and its ripple effects across sub-Saharan Africa.”
He adds that, despite challenges, including the ongoing conflict in the eastern provinces, “Félix Tshisekedi faces a less turbulent political landscape than his predecessor”.
Still, civil society and the political opposition remain vigilant. As Bienvenu Matumo of the Lutte pour le Changement (Fight for Change) movement warns: “No Congolese leader should dare amend our constitution to satisfy a desire to cling to power beyond two terms. Our democratic progress hinges on upholding the values enshrined in this constitution.”
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