Activists in Congo protest in front of Miru Systems in South Korea EP. 5-4
Activists in Congo protest in front of Miru Systems in South Korea
Five activists from the Democratic Republic of Congo met with the head of South Korea’s National Electoral Commission. The activists requested a ban on the supply of voting machines from a controversial South Korean company.
[Fig. 1] A scene from the protest visit to the Korean National Election Commission (Source from SBS News)
Activists in Congo protest in front of Miru Systems
On the same day, more than 20 Congolese living in South Korea rallied in front of MIRU Systems, a South Korean manufacturer of electronics for elections.
MIRU Systems has been under scrutiny in Congo since it was awarded a $150 million contract to supply around 100,000 voting machines in the country.
South Korea’s National Election Commission said the South Korean government was not involved in the controversy surrounding Miru Systems. However, the deal between Miru Systems and the Congolese National Electoral Commission (CENI) was allegedly arranged by former CENI chairman Kim Yong-hee. And he is currently under investigation for multiple corruption charges.
Miru has been the CENI’s exclusive supplier of electronic voting machines for South Korean elections since 2014, when Kim was appointed chairman of the CENI. From 2002 to 2014, other companies supplied equipment to the NEC.
Miru devices were used in last year’s South Korean presidential election.
Kim orchestrated the deal as the head of A-Web, a South Korean nongovernmental organization (NGO) that connects South Korean tech companies with election commissions around the world. He has led A-Web since its founding in 2013 and served as the head of both A-Web and South Korea’s state-run Central Election Commission from 2014 to 2016.
At the time, A-Web received about $38.11 million in funding from the National Electoral Commission, a government agency.
Miru Systems accused of crimes against developing countries
Congo is a country where millions of people are illiterate and have no access to electricity.
As such, there is a high risk that the South Korean-made machines could undermine the credibility of the long-awaited vote.
The 2018 elections in Congo were crucial in terms of ending a political crisis. Much of the violence in the country was linked to former President Joseph Kabila, who deliberately delayed the election and remained in power beyond the two-term limit set by the constitution.
Bwelungu Nombi Henry, one of the Congolese activists, said.
“Congolese people think it’s a South Korean machine, not a Miru machine.”
“I accept that Miru is a private company. But this issue is linked to South Korea’s reputation in the international community. Also, many people have died in the process of resisting Kabila’s delayed elections. Therefore, we hope that the South Korean government will consider this issue on a humanitarian level.”
MIRU Systems has supplied voting equipment to several countries, including Russia, Iraq, El Salvador, and Kyrgyzstan. In Iraq, there were allegations of irregularities. It led to a manual recount after the May 12, 2018 general election.
