Congo rejects donor aid to fund elections, saying it would lead to foreign meddling
Kinshasa — The Democratic Republic of Congo said on Monday it would refuse international financing for a long-delayed presidential election and fund the poll itself, saying donors’ conditions amounted to "foreign interference". The US and European countries have expressed concern about the electoral commission’s plans to use 100,000 new electronic voting machines, saying the system is untested and could allow fraud. Nikki Haley, the US’s UN ambassador, warned Congolese authorities in February to use paper ballots or lose US support for the polls. Only a fraction of expected international contributions have been disbursed as donors await clarification from authorities about how the vote will be conducted, including whether the commission will follow through on the plans to use the machines. Government spokesperson Lambert Mende said on Monday that the donors’ conditions amounted to meddling in Congo’s sovereign affairs and urged them to direct their contributions to other sectors, su...
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