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Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi casting his ballot, Kinshasa, Congo, December 2023. Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

On December 20, 2023, voters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo headed to the polls for the fourth time since the end of the civil wars that ravaged the country between 1996 and 2003. Both Congo’s democracy and its sitting president, Félix Tshisekedi, faced a test: when Tshisekedi took the reins after the 2018 election, it marked the first time in the country’s democratic history that an incumbent had ceded power to an opposition party’s candidate relatively peacefully. But independent tallies suggested that Tshisekedi had not in fact received the most votes, and his legitimacy was in doubt from the moment he was sworn in.…  Seguir leyendo »

President Félix Tshisekedi and his wife, Denise Nyakero, greeting supporters after he was declared the winner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s presidential election, Kinshasa, December 31, 2023. Arsene Mpiana/AFP/Getty Images

On December 23, three days after the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), I received a call from Moïse Katumbi Chapwe, the highest-polling opposition candidate. “There has been massive fraud”, he told me. “They stole the vote”.

It was hard to disagree. The results were not out yet, but observers from across the country reported that voters were intimidated, polling stations attacked, and, perhaps most tellingly, voting machines installed in private houses and fed ballots marked with the name of the incumbent president, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo. Videos circulated online showing soldiers firing at voters, polling stations ransacked, and a woman stripped of her clothes and beaten because she voted for Katumbi.…  Seguir leyendo »

Supporters of Felix Tshisekedi celebrate following the announcement of election results in Kinshasa, on December 31, 2023. (Photo by Arsene MPIANA / AFP via Getty images)

Provisional results have been announced for the 2023 elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), indicating victory for incumbent Felix Tshisekedi. He sits on 73 per cent of the vote with 85 per cent of votes tallied.

His closest challenger, Moise Katumbi, is on 18 per cent. Barring a successful legal challenge, Tshisekedi’s second mandate will be confirmed when the final results are released in mid-January, making him president until 2028.

A Tshisekedi victory was widely predicted – he had the backing of some of the DRC’s political heavyweights, bringing votes from many corners of the country’s fractured electoral mosaic, and faced a divided opposition that proved unable to unite behind a single candidate.…  Seguir leyendo »

President Félix Tshisekedi greets crowds before the Democratic Republic of Congo’s election this month © Gosette Lubondo/FT

The sultry western province of Kongo Central is loaded with Congolese history. It contains the seaports at the mouth of the Congo river from which Belgian colonisers siphoned off the exploited riches of the country and it was where Joseph Kasavubu, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first president post-independence, was born and died.So it was no surprise when President Félix Tshisekedi, on the campaign trail late last month seeking a second term in office, chose this symbolic place to emphasise his Congolité, or Congoleseness. Do not, he warned, be fooled by the “candidat de l’étranger” — the foreign candidate.It was a thinly veiled attack against his main challenger in the December 20 vote, Moïse Katumbi, whom he claims has links to Congo’s bogeyman, the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.…  Seguir leyendo »

After a contentious race, on Jan. 10, Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission pronounced Felix Tshisekedi the winner of the country’s Dec. 30 presidential elections. But polling data and parallel vote tabulations suggest it was“highly implausible” that Tshisekedi actually won, and the true winner was Martin Fayulu, who appealed the result.

In an unprecedented response, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), headed by Zambian President Edgar Lungu, called for a recount last week and proposed that the DRC consider forming a national unity government. SADC is known for not publicly intervening in member state electoral affairs.

In the week since then, the African Union convened a high-level meeting among heads of state or their representatives from several African regional organizations, including SADC; the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR); the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS); the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD); the East African Community; the African members of the United Nations Security Council (Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, and South Africa); and the AU troika.…  Seguir leyendo »

Joseph Kabila arrives at a polling station on election day, 30 December. Photo: Getty Images.

The announcement of Felix Tshisekedi as the winner of the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo came as a shock. Many expected the outgoing administration of President Joseph Kabila to install its chosen candidate, Emmanuel Shadary; there is now the fear that Kabila will continue to rule from behind the scenes.

But Kabila was never the African ‘strongman’ of cliché, and Tshisekedi’s putative victory reveals much about a deep-rooted political system and its ability to adapt.

Tshisekedi’s triumph is one of political engineering rather than the ballot box. Accurate polling is extremely difficult in a country like the DRC, where there has been no census since the 1980s, but there is no reason to doubt pre-election polls that showed a different opposition candidate, Martin Fayulu, in a commanding lead, nor the claims by the National Episcopal Conference of the Congo (CENCO) that data from their 40,000 observers does not match the results as announced.…  Seguir leyendo »

A billboard of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s departing president, Joseph Kabila, was burned by supporters of the opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi. Credit Hugh Kinsella Cunningham/EPA, via Shutterstock

At 3 a.m. on Jan. 10, bleary-eyed Congolese sat stunned in front on their TVs and radios. The preliminary results of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s presidential elections were announced, and it was not, as many had feared, the anointed successor of President Joseph Kabila. Nor was it the opposition leader Martin Fayulu, whom the respected Catholic Church had projected to win. Instead, it was Felix Tshisekedi — the son of the opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi — who could be seen on Twitter and Facebook streams, hugging his wife and proclaiming victory.

These election results are extraordinary, in two very different ways.…  Seguir leyendo »

An Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) agent seals a ballot box in front of observers in the Lubumbashi's Mapala district on December 30, 2018, following the close of polls in DR Congo’s presidential, provincial and national elections. CAROLINE THIRION/AFP

The Independent Electoral Commission in the Democratic Republic of Congo will likely declare results of the 30 December elections this week. Already there are worrying signs of divisions among international actors, after a statement by the Catholic Church, which fielded the largest election observation mission, indicating an opposition victory. Failure to respect the electoral result would risk throwing the country into a major political crisis. If there are indications the electoral commission has attempted to manipulate results, international actors, starting with the UN Security Council which plans to meet on Friday, should call for thorough and credible investigation before those results are accepted as definitive.…  Seguir leyendo »

Congolese gather at a bar in Kinshasa to watch the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, addressing the nation, on 19 July 2018. AFP/John Wessels

On 8 August 2018, the filing deadline, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s ruling majority coalition announced that Emmanuel Ramazani Shadari would be its candidate in the presidential election slated for 23 December. The announcement ended, for now, speculation that the incumbent, President Joseph Kabila, would run for a third term in violation of the country’s 2006 constitution. Instead, Kabila opted to nominate a loyalist “dauphin” to succeed him. The president’s decision to stand down is a major positive development – the payoff of years of patient pressure from Congolese and outsiders alike.

By selecting a new candidate, the ruling party has shown its intent to contest the elections without the incumbent president.…  Seguir leyendo »

Delayed elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the stalled transition risks provoking a major crisis, are one of three critical African polls: the DRC crisis, the recent vote in Kenya and Zimbabwe’s election next year all have important implications for democracy and stability on the continent.

Crisis Group’s recent publications on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including our 4 December 2017 report, examine the crisis provoked by President Joseph Kabila’s determination to hold onto power and repeatedly delayed elections. The DRC is only one of three African countries we cover whose future course could depend in part on the holding of credible elections: one vote past, in Kenya; one future, Zimbabwe’s 2018 polls; and one deferred, in the DRC.

These polls have had – or will have – important implications for democracy and stability not only in the three countries themselves but for the region as a whole.…  Seguir leyendo »

The last ten days have seen important developments in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): the end of the DR Congo Catholic Church’s attempts to implement its 31 December agreement, more violence in the Kasai provinces, a new UN Security Council resolution, and a speech by President Kabila announcing the imminent appointment of a new prime minister. How are all these connected?

On 31 December an inclusive political agreement, mediated by the Catholic bishops of DRC (CENCO) was signed between the government and opposition. The agreement stipulates that elections must be held by the end of 2017, and that a national union government should be formed and tasked with getting there.…  Seguir leyendo »

The dangers of a hasty Congo election

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been the target of criticism in recent weeks with editorials in major newspapers calling on our president to step down. A resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives is demanding the same thing and congressional hearings are scheduled soon. A cursory reading of the DRC Constitution would suggest that the president should step aside, but that’s too simple and, in fact, dangerous.

Congo does not have a history of smooth transitions of power. In fact, quite the opposite. That’s why a national dialogue that included opposition parties recently agreed that presidential elections will be held, but not this year.…  Seguir leyendo »

African leaders meeting in Luanda this week got part of the way to solving the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) political crisis, endorsing a proposed sixteen-month delay for the DRC’s presidential election. But to ensure the frustration of the DRC opposition and popular anger does not spill over into more violence, they must do much more to make sure the elections actually happen this time.

The DRC Constitution stipulates that the election should take place by 19 December, but the lack of preparation means this now cannot happen. This has sparked a political crisis over the future of President Joseph Kabila, who appears determined to defy the constitution’s ban on him standing for another term and staying in power beyond that date.…  Seguir leyendo »

Dichosas democracias africanas

Como anunciara sin ambages, Teodoro Obiang se sucedió a sí mismo en la presidencia de Guinea Ecuatorial, al obtener casi tantos votos como votantes en los recientes comicios de abril. Torturas, detenciones, amenazas y tantas irregularidades palmarias que jalonaron el proceso no empalidecen la «victoria apoteósica» del «líder carismático», sancionada por observadores reverentes, encabezados por el designado por la Unión Africana (UA), Thomas Yayi Boni, expresidente del vecino Benín, a quien Barack Obama negó el saludo en la reciente cumbre mundial sobre el clima en París. Nada impide cumplir sus designios al mandatario más longevo del continente; con 73 años, seguirá sirviéndose de su patria hasta 2023, y entonces pergeñará nuevos pretextos para continuar en un sillón ocupado en 1979, del que ni la muerte le separará.…  Seguir leyendo »

Free, fair, and transparent democratic elections are no longer strangers to Africa. Indeed, they have become a regular occurrence. But the presidential and parliamentary elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the end of November will likely be Africa’s most daunting electoral challenge so far. If the vote comes off successfully, democrats and democratic norms will receive a boost in every corner of the continent.

Geography alone in this vast and poorly connected country constitutes a formidable obstacle to conducting an election according to internationally recognized standards. The DRC is the size of Western Europe. Much of it is covered in thick jungle.…  Seguir leyendo »

By Aidan Hartley, who has covered wars in Africa for two decades for television and newspapers, is the author of “The Zanzibar Chest,” a memoir (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 28/07/06):

Laikipia, Kenya.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo will hold its first legitimate elections in four decades on Sunday. The United Nations peacekeeping mission there has played the role of electoral midwife, so if the vote is free and fair it will be among the global body’s greatest successes on the continent.

But in eastern Congo, many people will be unable to vote because the fighting that has killed millions in the past decade continues unabated, despite peace overtures by rebels in recent days.…  Seguir leyendo »