Bujumbura — Thousands of Congolese nationals living in Burundi began crossing the border on Friday in order to cast their ballots during elections on Sunday in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Congolese used every available means of transport to get to the border - buses, taxis and even bicycles. A woman in her mid-30s said she would not miss the chance to vote at any cost: "It will be the first time in my life for me to vote."

Makonga Monga, the charges d'affaires at the Congolese embassy in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, said at least 25,000 Congolese were expected to cross the border into eastern DRC to vote on Sunday.

By Thursday, he said, the embassy has issued 18,000 passes to registered voters in the DRC. At the border, travellers have to show a voter's card and the embassy's pass to be allowed into the DRC.

Monga said 15 offices to process the passes had been opened in Bujumbura, in the central province of Gitega and in Rumonge town in the southern province of Bururi. However, on Friday morning, there were long queues of Congolese at the embassy in Bujumbura. Monga said all would be processed by the end of the day.

He said Congolese nationals were not authorised to cast their ballots at the embassy in Bujumbura because DRC electoral law did not allow it. However, a member of a coordination committee in charge of distributing passes at the Bujumbura embassy, who requested anonymity, said that given Congo's troubled past, "there are still suspicions and some candidates would not trust us".

Near the Burundi-DRC border, about three kilometres from the Gatumba border post, immigration officials had set up about 20 workstations to ease controls on those wishing to cross the border. All a potential traveller had to do was present the white pass and receive a pink one with the same number and an immigration stamp.

"We want to ensure that those who are going have been really checked at the embassy," said Salvator Hakizimana, an immigration officer supervising the operation. There were no queues as the process took less than a minute per person.

At the border post, immigration agents only checked luggage and ensured that those travelling had stamped passes. Hakizimana said at least 2,000 people had crossed the border by mid-morning.

Congo's parliamentary and presidential elections will be the first democratic vote in the country since 1960. The Burundi government lent the DRC 8,000 ballot boxes, which were transported to the eastern DRC on Thursday by the UN Mission in Burundi, known as ONUB.

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]