Congo Blocks Planned Opposition Protest Against Election They Reject

Michael J. Kavanagh
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Democratic Republic of Congo’s government said it will block a demonstration planned for Wednesday by the opposition against the country’s Dec. 20 election.

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Presidential hopefuls including Martin Fayulu and Denis Mukwege criticized the vote and called for a new one, and announced their plan to march in front of the electoral commission in the capital, Kinshasa.

“I can reassure you that this march will not happen,” the interior minister, Peter Kazadi, told reporters in Kinshasa Tuesday. “If there are challenges, you need to bring them before the court.”

The candidates still plan to demonstrate despite the government interdiction, according to a statement signed by five candidates including Mukwege and Fayulu. Mukwege, a gynecologist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is not currently in the country according to his campaign.

Despite a relatively peaceful election, according to missions from the African Union, Carter Center and Southern African Development Community, tensions are rising in the mineral-rich country over claims the voting was rigged.

Many opponents of incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi rejected the election after delays deploying voting kits stretched the poll over several days. Tshisekedi has about 79% of 6.1 million votes counted thus far, the electoral commission announced Tuesday.

Businessman and soccer-team owner Moise Katumbi is in second place with about 14% of ballots. Fayulu is currently third with about 4%. Around 44 million people were registered to vote, though turnout was likely less than half that.

Read: Congo Publishes More Poll Results as Opposition Rejects Vote

Congo has deployed security personnel around the country, Kazadi said, including thousands of soldiers to the copper and cobalt-rich Katanga region, where Katumbi previously served as governor. Security forces will remain in place until the provisional announcement of results, which is planned for Dec. 31, and for several days after, he said.

(Adds opposition march plan and new results in paragaphs four, six and seven)

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