DR Congo elections: CENI announces Tshisekedi win

DR Congo elections: CENI announces Tshisekedi win

The Democratic Republic of Congo was still waiting early Thursday morning, as the 11:00 p.m. deadline for announcing results from the contentious December 30 presidential election came and went. It was nearly two hours later when chief Corneille Nangaa and election officials with CENI, the national electoral commission, finally entered the…

DRC election: CENI chief says foreign diplomats are threatening him

The top election official in Democratic Republic of Congo complained that foreign diplomats are interfering with the CENI electoral commission’s work, even as Sunday’s deadline passed with no results of the December 30 election made public. Corneille Nangaa told local journalists that “diplomats are trying to threaten us” but did…

DRC officials under pressure to report election results

Congolese election officials face pressure from within and outside the country to release legitimate polling results, even as the CENI electoral commission warns of delays in publishing provisional results expected on Sunday. The Roman Catholic bishops of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO), influential for more than two years…

On a different New Year’s Eve for the DR Congo

Two years ago on New Year’s Eve, the Democratic Republic of Congo finally saw a breakthrough in the political impasse that pitted outgoing President Joseph Kabila against opposition leaders who demanded elections. Kabila, having reached the end of his constitutionally limited second term, agreed to a deal brokered through CENCO,…

Laureen Fagan

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times

DRC postpones elections until December 30

The head of the national electoral commission (CENI) in Democratic Republic of Congo said Thursday that long-delayed elections scheduled for Sunday are now postponed until December 30. Corneille Nangaa, the CENI president, held a press conference in Kinshasa to explain that for technical and logistic reasons, the contentious elections must…

DRC: Will electoral commission postpone the elections again?

The head of the national electoral commission (CENI) in Democratic Republic of Congo plans a press conference for Thursday amid growing concerns that long-delayed elections could be postponed yet again. Corneille Nangaa, the CENI president, said as recently as Monday that he was confident the elections planned for Sunday would…

EU extends sanctions against Congolese candidate Shadary

The European Union on Monday approved a one-year extension on sanctions placed against 14 people for human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the hand-picked presidential candidate and close ally of outgoing President Joseph Kabila. Emmanel Ramazani Shadary, the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) candidate…

DRC: Kabila says he won’t rule out return to power

President Joseph Kabila may have stepped aside for the moment, but he hasn’t ruled out a future run in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kabila told media outlets on Sunday that he may contemplate a return to power, with the next presidential election expected in 2023. The Congolese president stubbornly…

A united Tshisekedi, Kamerhe return to DRC

Top-ticket Congolese candidates Felix Tshisekedi, above, and Vital Kamerhe made a high-profile return to Kinshasa on Tuesday, with thousands of supporters crowding the streets in the rain to watch their motorcade come from the airport. While the day was mostly peaceful, there were a few conflicts between police and the…

Campaigns begin as DRC heads to December elections

Official campaigning has kicked off in Democratic Republic of Congo, where long-delayed elections are scheduled for December 23. The national elections commission, CENI, designated Thursday as the start of campaigning for a field of 21 candidates certified in September. Front-runners for the presidency include Martin Fayulu of the Engagement for…

Tshisekedi, Kamerhe pull out of DRC coalition candidate deal

Two key Congolese opposition leaders, Felix Tshisekedi and Vital Kamerhe, have pulled out of an agreement to back Martin Fayulu of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development (ECiDé) party as their coalition candidate in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s December 23 election. Both men said they were responding to the…