Photo MONUSCO/Myriam Asmani

Kinshasa, 19 November 2011 - A National Mediation Commission tasked to resolve election-related conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was inaugurated on Friday 18 November 2011, under the joint chairmanship of the Independent Election Commission (CENI) and the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).

The ceremony took place at the seat of CENI and was attended by Ambassadors of the permanent member countries of the United Nations Security Council, representatives of the European Union and the African Union.

The National Mediation Commission of the Electoral Process (CNMPE) is composed of 7 Congolese personalities. Its mission is to support of the electoral process and it has the mandate to provide mediation and counsel to the stakeholders of the electoral process. They have to ensure permanent dialogue, settle incidents, and resolve potential crisis for peaceful elections.

The 7 CNMPE members include Cheikh Abdalah Mangala; Ms Aradjabu Famili Renée Immaculée; Professor Balanda Mikuin Leliel Gérard; Reverend Ekwa bis Isal Martin; Ms Kani a Nyangi Véronique; Ms Muyabo Kalenda, Angélique; Bishop Yemba Kekumba.

Explaining the context that inspired the establishment of the Committee, the head of CENI, Daniel Ngoy Mulunda said during the election cycle 2006, two structures were put in place to accompany the electoral process: the Comité International d'Accompagnement de la Transition (CIAT) chaired by the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Comité des Sages, led by Mr. Joachim Chissano, the former President of Mozambique.

''Unlike the CIAT and the Comité des sages, the current mediation committee is basically made up of Congolese personalities: upright and renown men and women,'' he further said.

The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for the DRC, Roger Meece, hailed the initiative, which he said is an additional instrument for CENI on top of the Forum des Partis Politiques to promote dialogue between the political stakeholders involved in the electoral process in a peaceful environment. He expressed gratitude to the members of the Committee who accepted to carry out this heavy task, ''the task endow unto them is difficult, complex and will require a lot of patience, determination, and personal commitment'', he highlighted.

The ambassadors and chiefs of the diplomatic missions who attended the ceremony took the opportunity to reiterate their support to the CENI and voice their concerns about the risks of violent incidents relating to the electoral process.