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When I’m caught in the middle of a conversation about U.S politics and the aftermath of the 2016 U.S presidential election, I say one thing to try lighten the mood: “At least the United States actually had its presidential election.” . I then explain that my birth country, D.R. Congo, was scheduled to hold its presidential elections in November 2016 as well but Congo’s government decided not to have it at all.
Of course comparing the state of U.S and Congolese politics is like comparing Apples and Oranges. But, it is insightful to note the differences between the political process in the U.S, the nation that has long been the stellar example of democracy, and that in D.R. Congo, a nation that has never had a peaceful presidential transition. The missed 2016 elections has resulted in D.R. Congo falling deeper into conflict. Many lives have been lost and even more people have been displaced. But, in the midst of the violence, one Congolese, Dr Jean Bele, successfully launched an independent endeavor that let over eight million Congolese peacefully vote in an election for a transitional leader.
Dr Bele is a Nuclear Physicist at the MIT Laboratories for Nuclear Sciences. Dr Bele turned down requests for him to run for the Congolese presidential seat himself. Instead, he chose to spearhead a grassroots movement that let Congolese nationals vote in droves throughout Congo and in major cities around the world.
The D.R Congolese government had said that holding the 2016 elections would have been too financially expensive and that there was a lack of resources to carry one out. As the founder of a technology company & a concerned Congolese citizen, I could not understand how that could be the case. I thought there had to exist an innovative solution that could make the election work, especially when national peace and the well being of millions of lives are at stake. So, naturally, Dr Bele’s efforts drew my attention. Recently, I spent some time with him at his home discussing more about the elections he organized. Here are the questions I had, what he had to say, along with a summary of the results from the election held.
“The important and necessary step is to have a peaceful transition without Kabila. The election took place, over 8 millions Congolese went to the poll in Congo and around the world.” Dr Bele explained before sharing the results, “Cardinal Mosengwo has been chosen as the administrator and Dr Mukwege is the deputy administrator. The next step is to put the administrator in power.”
Even though his election has brought him international attention from leaders and interested officials around the world, Dr Bele remains humble and is sticking to his decision not to pursue presidential office himself. When others call him a “Genius” for independently organizing elections with a turn out almost as high as those previously held by the government, he reminds them that “It’s Congo, its not Nuclear Physics.” .
But his efforts are very important. They could encourage the Congolese government to transition and have official elections sooner than later. The situation in D.R Congo was recently classified to be on par with Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
For Dr Bele, it wasn’t his knowledge of complex nuclear physics theorems that led him to act in the interest of his fellow citizens. It was his empathy for the suffering of others. Though he is well respected and working at the top of his field with MIT, he explained to me that he just couldn’t do nothing knowing what the millions directly affected by the conflict are going through. We may not all have the acumen for nuclear physics, but I know we can all have empathy for others. Hopefully someday, the world will have leaders driven by such empathy too.
How an MIT Nuclear Physicist did what his government said couldn’t be done was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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