The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) goes to the polls today to elect a president out of 19 candidates including the incumbent Félix Tshisekedi.
Voting kicked off smoothly on Wednesday, as early as 06:09 am across various polling stations. The process will proceed until 05:00 PM. Congolese in the diaspora are currently voting in five countries.
A total of 44 million registered voters, out of a total population of around 100 million, will elect their president, as well as national and provincial deputies. They are also, for the first time, electing municipal councilors.
Over 100,000 candidates are in the running for the four elections, these include; Félix Tshisekedi,60, President since 2019, who is seeking a second term and running against 18 other candidates.
Key among opposition candidates are; Moïse Katumbi,58, a wealthy businessman and former governor of the mining province of Katanga (southeast), Martin Fayulu, 67, who claims victory was stolen from him in the 2018 election, and Dr. Denis Mukwege, 68, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for his work on behalf of raped women, known worldwide but a political novice..
Wednesday has been declared a public holiday, and borders have been closed, domestic flights suspended until midnight to enable peaceful voting.
Several election observation missions have been deployed to monitor events and have called for transparency in the process, with real-time observation of results compilation.