DRC presidential election results expected on Sunday

DRC presidential election results expected on Sunday

Partial tally so far shows President Felix Tshisekedi with a strong lead.
The election took place on December 20. Photo: TRT Afrika

DR Congo's national election commission (CENI) is due to announce full provisional results of the December 20 presidential election on Sunday.

Its partial tally so far shows President Felix Tshisekedi with a strong lead, although the opposition have called for a re-run.

Tshisekedi, 60, has been in power since January 2019 and is running for a second five-year term. By Saturday evening, with 17.8 million votes counted, he was leading with 72 percent.

Moise Katumbi, a businessman and former governor of Katanga province in the south-east, was second with 18.9 percent.

Protests ban

Martin Fayulu was next at 5.5 percent, and former prime minister Adolphe Muzito had 1.36 percent.

The remaining candidates, including Denis Mukwege, who won a Nobel Peace Prize.

Some of the opposition candidates had planned a protest against the election results last week alleging irregularities. Police prevented the march.

Some 44 million people out of the 100 million inhabitants of the huge country were registered to vote on December 20 for president, as well as for national and regional lawmakers and municipal councillors.

Initially scheduled for December 20, voting was officially extended by a day to account for problems including delays in some stations.

Call for restraint

Voting continued for days afterwards in some remote areas, according to observers. DRC is the second-largest country in Africa by area.

About 15 embassies have called for "restraint" in the mineral-rich country ahead of the announcement of the results.

Authorities say they have taken steps to prevent unrest, especially in the mining areas of the south-east.

They also stress that any electoral disputes must be presented to the Constitutional Court, which will announce the final results, expected on January 10.

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TRT Afrika and agencies