The Members of Parliament have failed to interact with people at grassroots levels: They are hiding in Hotels with the media
CONCLUSION OF THE REFLECTION MEETING ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2024 ON PARLIAMENTARY RESTITUTION ORGANIZED BY THE CITIZEN COALITION FOR ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Case of Honorable Members of Parliament Patrick MUNYOMO and Hubert FURUGUTA etc.
In order to promote participatory Democracy at the grassroots level and contribute to the progression of democracy by insisting on a bottom-up management mode, accountability and demanding for accountability from those who have the power at each level remains an imperative in democratic societies that our country urgently needs.
The Citizen Coalition for Electoral Democracy (COCIDE) in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a popular project of the New Dynamics of Civil Society (NDSCI) which focuses specifically on the promotion of Democracy at each level as the only means of access and to exercise power, thus COCIDE continues to carefully follow the so-called “Parliamentary restitution” activities of Honorable National Deputies and our Honorable Senators in North Kivu in general and in Goma in particular.
One of the pillars of democracy, development, peace and citizenship is the obligation to report to the grassroots what has been done for this grassroots but also to evaluate the progress of the promises we make at this grassroots during the campaign. Thus we salute the efforts of the Honorable who are already on the ground as part of communicating with their grassroots during these parliamentary holidays, we also welcome at the same time the initiatives which are already underway to exchange with the population on different subjects in this particular security situation, which poses not only challenges but also opportunities to capitalize on to do better. So with the current situation, the Honorable of North Kivu are in a strategic position to play a central role in Government policy.
However, COCIDE remains concerned by a small number of Deputies and Honorable Members in their areas as well as the so-called “organized restitution” activities which do not have the character of restitution or exchange with the population, and at the same time we have observed simple visits from our honorable instead of forums with the population.
As of this Monday during our meeting we observed that only the following Honorable have already either started activities or are preparing activities in particular: Willy Mishiki in Walikale, Hubert Furuguta and Patrick Munyomo in Goma, and also the consultations of senators among certain political leaders, opinion leaders and community leaders. Thus from the city of Goma we have not yet been informed of the activities of the Honorable Eric Bwanapua and Muhindo Nzangi, in Nyiragongo the Honorable Adele Bazizane and have not yet also made their presence.
The participants in our meeting observed with bitterness that certain activities organized by the so-called honorable restitution do not meet the expectations of the population such as the Policy and Strategy for the defense of the national territory especially against aggression as well as the end of the war in North Kivu, the problem of teachers, the management of forced migrants including refugees as well as infrastructure, the economy, laws as well as constitutional reforms among many others. The Honorable Willy Mishiki instead went to participate in the inauguration of a new Catholic Parish in Walikale while the Honorable Patrick Munyomo and Hubert Furuguta prepared a Press Briefing which they called “First Parliamentary restitution in Goma” while the Senators present in Goma saw fit to meet certain authorities and opinion leaders in a selective manner.
Having the impression that the political leadership in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to manifest a phobia towards the population and the reduction of space for exchanges between the leaders and the people, we note that this way of doing frustrates democratic aspirations and continues to further create a gap between the population and the people in power.
So being this population, we take this opportunity to call on the Honorable Deputies and Senators to get back to the grassroot, to the democratic fundamentals and to the management of public affairs from the bottom- up which should exactly characterize democratic governance.
We therefore recommend the following:
To the Honorable National Deputies and Senators:
To understand that restitution to the Population is an obligation towards the people and not a gesture of goodwill, or favor, and to assume all the consequences caused by the abuse of this social contract between them and the population,
To make enough effort to remain faithful to their campaign promises and to popularize this value of faithfulness to one’s word to deserve to be called Honorable,
To organize public meetings with the population to first report on their campaign promises, to inform and explain to the population the various projects and policies of the Congolese Government and then to collect the opinions and recommendations of the population for the send to the Government of the DRC,
Not to consider what you are currently doing as restitution activities and to organize for a real restitution at the base,
To organize other popular accountability activities at the grassroots through their deputies and their political parties,
To the Population
To denounce through letters, messages in social networks, petitions and programs in the media the activities of the Honorable which do not fit with the restitution to the base, and to demand the Honorable to return to listen to the population,
To closely follow the interventions of the Honorable in the National Assembly and to reframe their actions which do not promote the aspirations of the population,
To form strong pressure groups to demand accountability from those who have a portion of the power and to fight for their interests by deeply believing in change through ourselves,
At the National Assembly
To implement a strategy for access to information about the reports and performance of the Honorable to the public through the Media, posts on Social Networks, the Website and field visits,
To promote Civil Society initiatives in the area of parliamentary accountability, and the establishment of a public communication framework either by email, an open day, a toll-free number, or radio broadcasts which allow the population to evaluate their MPs by informing Parliament,
To Civil Society
To strengthen and improve democratic spaces that promote the participation of the population,
To be a model and example of Democracy in the access and exercise of power at their level and to promote democratic principles as the only way to access and exercise power at each level,
To be more accountable and to demand accountability from others and from anyone who has a portion of power,
To encourage the population to be more aggressive in demanding accountability from each person who has a portion of power,
Done in Goma, this September 10, 2024
