Arrr! The Congo be stayin' true to their captain, denyin' the scallywag's bid to scrap the election results!
2024-01-09
Avast ye, me hearties! On Tuesday, the constitutional court of the Democratic Republic of the Congo did declare once again that President Felix Tshisekedi be the victor of the election! Aye, those challengers with their logistical gripes can go walk the plank!
Congo's constitutional court has upheld the results of the recent election, declaring President Felix Tshisekedi the winner. The court rejected a petition by opposition candidate Theodore Ngoy to annul the vote. Judge Kamuleta Badibanga Dieudonne, president of the constitutional court, stated that Tshisekedi had been elected by a majority of votes cast. Ngoy, who received less than 1% of the vote, was the only candidate to file an appeal.Tshisekedi will be inaugurated at the end of January. The election had a turnout of over 40%, with approximately 18 million people casting their ballots. Despite winning with over 70% of the vote, Tshisekedi's victory was met with skepticism from opposition candidates and their supporters who questioned the validity of the results.
The election was marred by logistical issues, as many polling stations either opened late or failed to open at all. Some stations lacked necessary materials, and voter cards had smudged ink, rendering them illegible.
Given Congo's history of disputed elections and potential for violence, there is little confidence in the country's institutions among the Congolese. Opposition candidates, including frontrunner Moise Katumbi, rejected the results even before they were announced and called for mass mobilization. Katumbi accused the electoral commission of orchestrating chaos to maintain the current regime in power and demanded the resignation of the commission's head.
However, neither Katumbi nor other opposition candidates filed an appeal with the constitutional court, as they believed it would not rule independently. The outcome of the election has raised concerns about the transparency and credibility of the democratic process in Congo.