Mainaro Doute, DRC "I regret not having voted"

Internally displaced people (IDPs) in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have borne the brunt of frequent attacks by militiamen in Ituri District, despite a truce in 2002 that ended fighting in most parts of the country.

During general elections on 30 July, the first democratic vote in the country since 1960, IDPs in Ituri cast their ballots even though militiamen tried to bar them from voting. However, other IDPs failed to vote for different reasons. One, Mainaro Doute, lost her voter card in April during fighting in her village 50 km south of Bunia, the main town in Ituri. Another IDP, Albertine Erumui, simply did not have the strength to walk to the polling station. They tell their stories:

Doute: "I have been displaced since April and am living here in Dele [3 km south of Bunia]. I am beginning to regret that I did not vote, simply because I lost my voter card in April during fighting between the army and militiamen in Songolo [50 km south of Bunia].

"Government soldiers entered our home and looted everything, including where I kept my voter card.

"Being displaced here in Bunia, the authorities asked us to request duplicate voter cards from the Independent Electoral Commission but my friends and I went to the commission several times without receiving our cards. Each time they told us, 'come tomorrow'. Eventually, we had an appointment to meet them on voting day.

"There was nobody in the commission office that morning except police officers who chased us out like dogs. We could not do anything.

"I was registered to vote in Songolo. If I had had the card I wonder how I would have gone back, since I have a baby.

"I regret not having voted. Perhaps my vote could have helped a candidate move from 49 percent of the vote to 50 percent; a candidate who would bring us peace."

"I couldn't make the half-day's walk" - Erumui

Photo: Richard Pituwa/IRIN

Albertine Erumui, internally displaced in Bunia, northeastern district of Ituri.

For her part, Erumui says: "I have been here at the Katoni camp for displaced persons [about 12 km south of Bunia] since April. I could not vote because I didn't have the strength to go to my polling station at Tchekele [a locale farther south, where militiamen are very active]. To get there I would have had to leave the day before the elections because Tchekele is a half-day's walk from here.

"What discouraged me more was when I learnt that our friends who went there had been caught in a [militia] ambush at Loribi.

"Also, I am a widow. Moreover, I am caring for orphans. How would they survive? I stayed so that I could feed them. I was able to get something for them which, as you can see, I am preparing now.

"I hope that the others will vote in my place so that we find peace because we have suffered in this camp.

"Thank God the [aid] organisations are helping us again."

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