June 23, 2005

Appeasing the Population

Since the elections are clearly not going to happen on the 30th of June 2005 (my projection is closer to 30th of June 2006 IF they start registering people today), Congolese people are gettting a little bit frustated with the situation.

In order to appease the population, the government has posted a large orange banner in the city center: "Registration for the election is starting the 20th of June 2005 at XX location!".

They are also recruiting a shit load of soldiers and policemen who parade around packed in open jeeps with gas masks.

2 comments:

Beaver said...

Wow... some appeasing tactic... very african, actually.

I remember Compaoré doing the same thing in Burkina after Sankara's murder in 1989, without the banner this time.

Are you aware of actual registration processes being prepared ? Could it be an ambush ? Do you beleive there might be enough trouble to justify these armed measures ?

Victoria said...

Hm. Didn't you mention that there were alot more soldiers than usual already? Do you think that the number will keep on escalating as the elections drag on?