KINSHASA/GOMA: Democratic Republic of Congo was holding presidential and legislative elections on Wednesday - a vote disrupted by delays, opposition allegations of fraud, violence, and logistical setbacks that could prevent many from participating.
At stake is not just the legitimacy of the next administration. Congolese election disputes often spark violent unrest with potentially far-reaching consequences. Congo is the world's third-largest copper producer, and the top producer of cobalt, a battery component needed for the green transition.
In a mid-poll update, the CENI election commission acknowledged that some polling stations across the country had opened late, but spokesperson Patricia Nseya said all polls would be open the requisite 11 hours.
Independent religious and civil society observers also reported many centres failing to open on time or at all, electronic voting systems malfunctioning, violent incidents and other issues.
"It is total chaos," said presidential candidate Martin Fayulu, runner-up in the disputed 2018 presidential election.
"If all the people don't vote in all the polling stations indicated by the CENI, we won't accept these elections," Fayulu warned after voting in the capital Kinshasa.
President Felix Tshisekedi is competing against 18 opposition challengers in the hope of a second term running the mineral-rich yet poverty-stricken nation.
Opposition candidates have wooed voters with pledges to bring stability, peace, and the economic development they say was absent from Tshisekedi's first term.
Another presidential candidate, Nobel Peace Laureate Denis Mukwege, told journalists after voting that he was concerned about how election day was progressing. Before the vote he warned that the "electoral fraud of the century (is) taking place".
Meanwhile millionaire businessman and former governor Moise Katumbi, a strong challenger in the presidential race, urged his supporters to monitor the publication of results in each polling station.
"The only results that we will accept are results that must be posted at each polling station. For now I'll not judge the organisation of the vote but there are many failures," he said after voting in the mining town of Lubumbashi.
In the eastern cities of Goma and Beni, some polling stations opened hours late and people struggled to find their names on voter lists, which were only made available at their polling stations on Wednesday morning, according to witnesses.
In Bunia, also in eastern Congo, security forces fired warning shots to disperse protesters after a voting centre was vandalised and kits destroyed, a Reuters reporter said.
A provincial election commission official told journalists that people displaced by violence in the region had protested because they could not get back to their home towns to vote.
For months, the CENI insisted it could deliver a free and fair vote as promised across Africa's second-largest country, even as independent observers and critics flagged irregularities they said would jeopardise the legitimacy of the results.
About 44 million Congolese are registered to take part in the election, which also includes regional ballots.
As voting day neared, the authorities sought extra helicopters, raising concerns about the commission's ability to open polling stations in areas otherwise unreachable due to bad roads or a lack of security.
Even so, before election day, the CENI said it would not be able to organise voting in two territories in the rebel-torn eastern province of North Kivu and one territory near Kinshasa due to security threats.
On the eve of the vote, CENI president Denis Kadima warned that expected voting delays could mean some people would have to vote after Wednesday. "The principle is that no Congolese should be left behind," he said on state television.
The CENCO observer mission of Congo's powerful Catholic church on Wednesday warned such an extension would undermine the integrity of the results. "We recommend the CENI clarify what it intends to do," said CENCO Secretary-General Donatien Nshole. Full provisional results are expected by December 31. - Reuters
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