Annette Mataya, DRC "The politicians misuse the money; they do nothing to help the people"

Annette Mataya, 35, is a Congolese textile dealer, who has lived in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, for the past seven years. She left her secretarial job in the port of Matadi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo's western province of Bas-Congo, because of poor pay and hopes to return to her country with her five-year-old son when the economic situation improves.

"I used to earn about US $15 per month at the port. This enabled me to buy rice and fish to help the family. However, when the salary stopped coming, I left the country. It was difficult walking several kilometres to work and not being paid; there was no hope so I preferred to live outside Congo.

"In Matadi there were no roads and no electricity. Sometimes there was electricity, then there was no electricity for the next three days, yet the town is near the Inga [hydroelectric dam].

"My family is still in Matadi, I speak to them on the phone from time to time and I would like to go home; I am not comfortable living in a foreign country. I hope to return home soon, when the situation improves; hopefully after the election of a new president.

"We need a president who can bring change to Congo. We do not know who will win because there is still the second round of the elections between President Joseph Kabila and Vice-President Jean Pierre Bemba.

"We need someone who can help the people. During former President Mobutu Sese Seko's time, life was hard but at least we had food to eat and children could go to school. However, since 1997 [when Laurent Kabila took power] we have had numerous problems: no quality education, no roads and no salaries.

"The politicians misuse the money; they do nothing to help the people.

"If Bemba becomes president he should bring about change; we are tired of war all the time. If Kabila wins that is God's will too. Our country has many problems. We hear people talking of minerals but these are for the rich people, the government and foreigners. In Congo, if you are rich, you are very, very rich and if you are poor the situation is desperate. The gap between the rich and the poor is huge. The new government should enact laws to change this.

"There are also no banks. The people keep their money at home; the economy cannot develop this way. With banks, like in Kenya, you can ask for a loan and improve your life.

"We have good doctors in our country but no hospitals; our people are dying needlessly. The new government should rebuild our infrastructure.

"Whoever is elected president should work for peace and the rest will follow. That is the most important thing for all of us. God knows who will be president."