Kigali — Thirty million ballots and election supplies for the first-ever presidential and parliamentary elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are already in the vast Central African country.

According to a United Nations logistical team working in support of the country's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the election materials will be delivered to polling stations across the country by tomorrow, Friday, July 28.

"These are the first elections in Congo in over 40 years. The IEC, backed by the UN and the international community, has done a remarkable job - particularly considering the circumstances," Ross Mountain, Deputy Special Representative to the Secretary-General and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the DRC, was quoted as saying in a release.

"Inevitably, there has been and will be problems arising in this vast country. Yet the process is on track and we are confident that despite imperfections, these will be very good elections," Mountain added.

The elections are being organised by the IEC with support from UNDP's Electoral Assistance Programme and MONUC, and the UNDP is helping in the distribution of the ballots and essential equipment to around 50,000 polling stations.

According to a release the IEC plans to open 8,518 polling stations to meet the hopes and aspirations of some 3 million voters in Kinshasa only.

The UNDP Country Director Babacar Cissé expressed optimism at the elections but did not rule out the possibility of chaos.

"It is a big country and there will certainly be pockets of unrest as we approach the elections, but still, there is no doubt in my mind that the average Congolese is looking forward to these polls," Cissé is quoted saying.

The European Union is the biggest contributor to the elections while the total amount from donors is US$400 million. And, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has asked donors for an additional US$46 million urgently needed to secure a second round of elections, scheduled for later this year.

Meanwhile, the UNDP and MONUC are concluding the training of 12,000 Polling Centre Supervisors at 210 regional training sites, who will assist local elections staff in organising fair and transparent elections, in which 25.7 million Congolese have registered to vote on Sunday July 30.