DRC: Internet restored after 20 days of suspension of elections | New

The Internet is operating again in the Democratic Republic of Congo after being stuck since December 31 with the likely goal of mitigating speculation about the results of the presidential election.

Barnabe Kikaya bin Karubi, senior advisor to President Joseph Kabila, said at the time that Internet and SMS services were cut off to preserve public order after "fictional results" began circulating on the media. social. "This could lead us directly to chaos," said Kikaya, adding that the connections would remain cut off until the full results were released on Jan. 6.

Election results were challenged and the internet remained dormant until the country's Constitutional Court upheld Felix Tshisekedi's victory on Sunday.

The Economist said the closure has resulted in a smuggling of smuggled mobile phone cards from the neighboring Republic of Congo. The two countries are divided by the swirling Congo River. Residents of DR Congo located in the capital, Kinshasa, could connect to the Internet in the neighboring country if they were close enough to the banks of the river.

Problems for hospitals

Nearly two weeks ago, the United Nations asked the DRC government to turn the internet on again.

"A general arrest of the network is a flagrant violation of international law and can not be justified by any means," said David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression.

"Access to information is crucial to the credibility of the ongoing electoral process." Closures are damaging not only for people's access to information, but also for their access to information. basic services, "said the expert.

The American ambbadador to Congo, Mike Hammer, tweeted Saturday 20 days without Internet in the country are "20 days too much" and this access cut right after the disputed presidential election "must be restored now".

British Ambbadador John Murton tweeted Friday that "this poses problems for hospitals, universities and commerce".

Kinshasa's report on Haru Mutasa, from Al Jazeera, tweeted about the January 18 Internet outage, saying the Congolese "They were angry at first, but realize now that they can not do anything until the authorities turn it on again."

With the return of Internet services in the country, messages of joy began to appear on social media.