Congo FA Polls: Candidates Names Kept Secret

The Congo-Brazzaville Football Federation (FECOFOOT) is to hold elections to choose its new president during Annual General Meeting on September 23.

But two days after the closure of handing in the nomination forms, the names of the candidates in the race have not been officially released, despite calls for greater transparency made during the last election.

According to FECOFOOT’s electoral board chairman, Didier Potard Mohoussa, part of the rationale for this secrecy is to help prevent third parties with special interests from influencing the outcome of the voting.

“We cannot announce the candidates’ names before Saturday this week as that will put us at a risk of blaming ourselves for distorting the rules that are in place,” he said.

the argument has been that keeping candidates’ names secret could provide such parties with the need to operate covertly.

“So far two candidates have presented their papers. We are still going through them but what I can tell you is that we have received two applications,” Mohoussa added.

The Electoral board gave candidates two weeks from August 4-19 to pick the forms, but many football analysts argue that the body did not do enough publicity of the exercise leading to few applications.

“As the commission in charge of the elections, we do not invent the candidates. We cannot also force Congolese citizens to be candidates. I think some Congolese either do not find themselves fit for the position due to the electoral code and statutes or they are not interested. The one who needed to be a candidate would apply even with an incomplete file,” he concluded.
Among the biggest issues that have been poked at are the electoral guidelines with some of the candidates feeling the guidelines leave them out.
The board has promised to deliver free and fair elections and the meeting would go a long way in assuring the same among the candidates.