Subdivisions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Reforms to devolve powers to the provinces were completed in 2006, but devolution to more local levels have again been delayed when elections scheduled for 2019 were not held.

Together with the four unsplit provinces—Bas-Congo (renamed Kongo Central), Maniema, Nord-Kivu, and Sud-Kivu—they make up the twenty-five provinces listed in Article 2 of the Constitution.

In June 2013 a batch of prime ministerial decrees was issued giving city and commune status to, and setting the boundaries for, a large number of former cités and other populated places.

[7] In order to pass a modified bill allocating seats for upcoming local elections, it was decided to suspend those articles that were contentious and to revert the affected communities to their 2006 administrative configurations.

The articles granting city status to new provincial capitals—Boende, Bunia, Buta, Gemena, Inongo, Isiro, Kabinda, Kalemie, Kamina, Kenge, Lisala, and Lusambo—were not suspended and neither were those granting commune status to the administrative centers of the territories.

For instance the town of Buta gained city status when it became a provincial capital in 2015, had its first mayor appointed in 2018, and by June 2019 its four communes were still not operational.

[13] Table 2 is based on data compiled by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) as part of organizing the election cycle of 2018.

The Congolese voter would have a direct say in the affairs of the province by voting in a deputy to the provincial assembly which would then go on to elect the governor.

[18] In June, the League of Voters stressed the importance of these elections and asked President Tshisekedi to intervene to get the process going.

[19] In August, a petition with two million signatures demanding that the elections be held was filed at the presidential palace.

[20] At the end of October the outgoing electoral commission presented their final report to the National Assembly.

At this time their rapporteur said that organizing the local elections required a workforce of 650,000 and the allocation of considerable funds by the government.

[28] Although selected by local structures according to custom, traditional leaders can only exercise their authority if they are officially recognized and invested by the government.

In 2013 such a dispute over the leadership of a grouping eventually led, through an escalation of conflicts in 2016, to the Kamwina Nsapu rebellion.