Contents:
During the period under review, civil rights violations became more varied, reflecting pre-election pressures, and were committed by state agents.
As reported earlier, human rights defenders and youth activists have been targeted by state security forces and sometimes armed groups for their work. This has forced many to operate in secrecy. Democratic institutions on the local and communal levels do not function according to the constitution, since local elections have never taken place. All officials at this level are appointed by central government. However, the prevailing suspicion of a secret agreement between the election winner, Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi, and Kabila has diminished such a positive prognosis.
Former president Kabila used extra-legal means e. Furthermore, the former president held veto power over every aspect of society and promoted a culture of patronage to manipulate the system to the advantage of the ruling elite and their family members. Institutions e. Instead, the leaders of the respective organizations exercise personal rule. The elections revealed the prevalence of clientelism. Many party lists included family members of the leading figures. Furthermore, candidates used resources obtained from their current positions.
The DRC party system is heterogeneous with a very large number of parties. In May , political parties, grouped within 77 political platforms, were registered with the Ministry of Interior. Only a few of the political parties operate nationally. Most parties are built around individuals who use the party as a vehicle to launch their own political career, often in the hope of being co-opted by the ruling elite.
Parties are strongly identifiable along ethnic, regional and community lines. Today, FCC is the most important political platform. Voter volatility is high. The vote essentially divided along ethnic lines.
Most members of parliament elected in either or were unable to retain their seat in the election. All parties lack sustainable funding. No formal party-financing scheme exists.
Thus, almost all parties rely on funding from party leaders or influential members, who generally use their government or public enterprise position to source public funds to cover party expenses. There exist a myriad of interest groups, most of which are very small and confined to specific social segments. Often organizations are created to receive funding from international non-governmental organizations, with some organizations created to serve as a focal point for community development actions.
In both cases, however, interest groups have very little influence over policies implemented at the national or sub-national levels. Some interest groups have achieved some success either because they are connected with donors or because they are stranded by politicians seeking anchorage in society.
Interest groups are generally poorly organized, locally based, narrowly focused and achieve little impact. Christian organizations and in particular the Catholic Church are the most influential organizations given their dominant position in the provision of public goods e. This last mediation gave rise to the agreements that enabled the formation of a government led by Bruno Tshibala, which held office at the time of the elections in December No public opinion data on public attitudes toward democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is available.
Resource estimates and tabulations are based on block models provided by FCX and prepared by Lundin at year end In the Democratic Republic of the Congo , during the Ituri Conflict , Ugandan backed rebel groups were accused by the UN of enslaving Mbutis to prospect for minerals and forage for forest food, with those returning empty handed being killed and eaten. Hillside slopes are generally steep, while valley bottoms are relatively flat. Background information on the country is coupled with the main business resources available. Start meeting singles in Kinshasa today with our free online personals and free Brazzaville chat! A total of holes were drilled using six drill rigs for a total of 15, m. Wilfrid Laurier University is on lockdown as authorities Blackrod Online Personals investigate an online threat.
There has been a growth in movements consisting mainly of young people, who comprise the majority of the population, which demand a greater political openness. Taking the recent political evolution of the country into account, the controversial result of the presidential election was peacefully contested. This seems to be an indicator of greater respect for democratic norms.
However, the strong public demand for an electoral turnover of power can also be interpreted as a reaction to the social and economic misery the public faces, rather than consent for democratic norms. The legacy of violent conflict, and the low-level of economic and social development have negatively affected the ability of citizens to organize in ways that really benefit society. The associational life is existent and visible. There are more than 5, registered NGOs. However, these associations rarely act for common social benefit.
NGOs are often set up as means to receive funds for the private benefit of a few individuals. The majority of the population relies on the informal sector and subsistence agriculture to survive. The HDI loss due to inequality stood at Poverty is widespread, with Decades of violent conflict have left public institutions weak, and unable to alleviate poverty or promote development across the country. Regions like South Kivu, North Kivu and Katanga are still prone to violent conflict, and the large number of internally displaced people suffer especially harshly from poverty.
For many Congolese, survival is only ensured through subsistence farming with farming often undermined by the ongoing instability and informal small-scale trading. Churches and family members often provide some social assistance. Poverty has little systematic relation to ethnicity or identity. Those with access to power, which is controlled by the ruling presidential alliance and in some instances by armed groups, live relatively comfortable lives. Women are increasingly major providers for their families.
The government does not prohibit outward investment, but nor does it particularly promote it. Currently, there are no government restrictions preventing domestic investors from investing abroad and there are no countries with which domestic investors are precluded from doing business. In the country, there is a National Agency for Investment Promotion ANAPI , whose mandate is to simplify the investment process, make procedures more transparent, assist new foreign investors and improve the image of the country as an investment destination.
It takes four procedures and seven days, and costs However, DR Congo remains a challenging environment in which to conduct business. In , the country ranked out of countries. Still, during the period under review, some serious reform efforts were undertaken, including a reduction in fees to secure property titles, a reduction in the time required to export and import goods through the implementation of a single window of trade, and the improvement of contract enforcement through the adoption of a law that regulates all aspects of mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. However, in spite of the improvement of the legal framework, in practice progress is still slow.
Irrespective of economic sector, market competition remains severely constrained largely due to high levels of economic opportunism, such as corruption at all levels of public administration, and the direct intervention in the economy by the ruling elite for personal gain. Market-based competition is confined to only a few segments of the economy. Heavily dependent on exports from the extractive sector and, given the quality of its governance, the state remains dependent of customs duties, which makes investments extremely costly.
This is very detrimental to progress of market norms, as any foreign investor faces a high risk that they will be pushed out of the market by actors close to the government. The World Bank stated that, in , the urban informal sector represented The large informal sector is less the result of an extensively regulated market, and more the result of a highly dysfunctional, unfair and opaque institutional framework, high levels of corruption and clientelism, and a lack of infrastructure.
The competition act abrogated and replaced a set of laws that dated from colonial and post-independence times. These laws consisted of three fairly basic texts that addressed only unfair competition, pricing regulation and the creation of a competition commission. The new act applies to the production and provision of all goods and services in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by any natural or legal person, whose operations or behavior affect competition within the domestic market or in a substantial part of it.
The act prohibits anti-competitive practices, which are referred to as practices which may a restrict access to markets by competitors; b enable businesses to carve up markets or fix prices; c hamper production, outlets, investments or technical and technological advances; or d skew the outcome of a competitive bid. However, authorizations may be granted by the competition commission in respect to cartels that contribute to promoting economic progress, job creation and maintenance.
Moreover, the minister has the power to define the method for calculating the price and determine the maximum profit margin authorized for tradespeople other than liberal professionals. The opportunities for free pricing and to gain profits from business could thus be limited considerably.
On the other hand, the competition act introduces rules that regulate potential public restraints on competition and sets clear conditions under which public or state-owned entities are allowed to conduct business activities in competition with the private sector. That is an elementary improvement in the conditions for competition in DR Congo.