Congo government bans opposition election protest

According to a report from Reuters, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has prohibited an opposition protest scheduled for the following day in response to the chaotic national election last week. President Felix Tshisekedi was leading in the early results.

Five opposition presidential candidates had organized the joint demonstration in Kinshasa to bring attention to alleged election irregularities.

However, the government banned the event on Tuesday, citing its lack of legal basis and its potential to undermine the electoral process while the CENI election commission was still compiling results.

Vice Prime Minister Peter Kazadi stated at a press conference, “No government in the world can accept this, so we will not let it happen.”

The organisers of the protest had not responded to the ban at the time, raising the possibility of increased tension surrounding the presidential and legislative vote on December 20.

Disputes over elections often lead to unrest in Congo, posing further risks to the stability of the country, which is a major producer of cobalt and copper but is plagued by widespread poverty and insecurity, particularly in its eastern region.

Despite a tumultuous campaign, the vote itself was chaotic, with delayed delivery of election kit, malfunctioning equipment, and disorganized voting registers.

The CENI’s decision to extend voting at polling stations that failed to open on election day was rejected by the protest organisers, who also called for a full re-run of the vote.

Some independent observers also expressed concerns about the credibility of the election due to the extension, although the CENI dismissed those concerns. The commission began releasing results over the weekend, showing Tshisekedi leading with 80% of around 2.8 million votes counted so far.

However, the commission has not disclosed the total number of votes cast out of the approximately 44 million registered voters, nor has it provided an indication of what the latest given figure represents in relation to the total number of votes.

Another presidential candidate, Moise Katumbi, echoed the concerns of the protest organisers and called for the head of the CENI to resign.

(Reporting by Ange Kasongo and Sonia Rolley; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Alexander Winning)