Early results show President Félix Tshisekedi has won a second five-year term in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the mineral-rich country's electoral commission said on Sunday, despite a storm of protest from top opposition candidates after a chaotic vote and criticism from national sources and international observers.
Many polling stations were unable to open on voting day on December 20 because they did not receive election materials in time, so they opened for an unscheduled, impromptu second day of voting. Five of Tshisekedi's opponents – including his main challenger – said the extension was illegal and the vote should be canceled and held again.
Observation missions pointed to “numerous irregularities” in both the conduct and counting of votes for presidential, parliamentary and regional assemblies, but did not say that electoral interference changed the outcome of the presidential election. According to the country's electoral commission, voter turnout was 43 percent.
Congo is Africa's fourth-most populous country and one of the world's leading producers of copper and cobalt – two metals crucial to the global green energy transition – as well as gold and other minerals. But corruption has crippled its economy and it is among the five poorest countries in the world; Almost two thirds of the 100 million people live on less than $2.15 a day. A variety of rebel groups have terrorized civilians and looted mines in eastern Congo, creating a regional security and humanitarian crisis. Almost 7 million people have done it have fled their homes in the east in recent decades – the largest documented exodus in Congo's history – and about a quarter of the Congolese population needs food aid, according to the World Food Program.
Sunday's results showed Tshisekedi won 73 percent of the vote, followed by millionaire mining mogul Moise Katumbi in second place with 18 percent and former energy executive Martin Fayulu – widely seen as the legitimate winner of the last election – in third with a 5 percent margin Place. Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, whose hospital treats women raped and abused during the conflict, received only a tiny fraction of the vote.