By way of Joseph WinterAfrica Editor, BBC Information website31 December 2023, 10:24 GMTUpdated 12 mins agoImage caption, Tens of millions of folks queued for lots of hours prior to they had been in a position to voteThe complete result of Democratic Republic of Congo’s election are anticipated in a while, with President Félix Tshisekedi taking part in a commanding lead over opposition applicants who’ve demanded a rerun.President Tshisekedi has won about 72% of the votes introduced thus far, and looks set for a 2d time period.The 20 December election was once marred via standard logistical issues.It needed to be prolonged to a 2d day in some portions of the huge nation.About two-thirds of polling stations opened overdue, whilst 30% of balloting machines didn’t paintings, consistent with an observer crew.Tens of millions of folks waited for hours prior to they had been in a position to vote, whilst some gave up and went house.The opposition mentioned the issues had been a part of a planned plan to permit the consequences to be rigged in favour of Mr Tshisekedi. A number of of the principle challengers have referred to as for protests after the consequences are introduced on Sunday.”We name on our folks to take to the streets en masse after the proclamation of the electoral fraud,” they mentioned in a joint commentary disregarding the “sham” election.The top of the election fee has in the past mentioned the opposition applicants sought after a brand new election as a result of “they know they misplaced… they’re dangerous losers”.Election leader Denis Kadima stated some irregularities however insisted that the consequences introduced thus far mirrored the need of the Congolese folks.The previous president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, has already posted a message on X congratulating Mr Tshisekedi on his re-election.Soccer wealthy person and mining wealthy person Moise Katumbi is in 2d position with about 18% of the vote, whilst former oil government Martin Fayulu, who claims he was once robbed of victory within the 2018 election, is in 3rd position with about 5%.Election officers have nonetheless now not mentioned precisely what number of polling stations opened or what number of people voted. Some 17.8 million votes had been counted thus far, from 55,000 of the 76,000 polling stations. About 44 million folks had been registered to vote.It isn’t transparent if any of the 18 opposition applicants will problem the leads to courtroom – Mr Katumbi has already mentioned it’s not value it, since the courts aren’t unbiased.The Constitutional Courtroom has 10 days to listen to any criminal demanding situations prior to it’s because of announce the overall effects on 10 January 2024, with the swearing-in rite scheduled for 20 January.DR Congo is more or less 4 instances the dimensions of France, however lacks fundamental infrastructure. Even a few of its major towns aren’t connected via street. About two-thirds of the rustic’s 100 million inhabitants are living beneath the poverty line, incomes $2.15 (£1.70) an afternoon or much less.Citizens additionally selected parliamentary, provincial and municipal representatives, with about 100,000 applicants in overall.The elections weren’t held in portions of the east on account of the preventing which has raged within the house for the previous 3 many years.Dozens of armed teams had been struggling with to keep watch over portions of the area, house to a lot of the rustic’s huge mineral wealth. This comprises huge reserves of cobalt, an important a part of many lithium batteries, noticed as very important to a long term freed from fossil fuels.You might also be serious about:Video caption, DR Congo elections: ‘I’ve now not voted and I slept right here’
