The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, is set to take oath for a second five-year term on Saturday amid Opposition Protests Over Alleged Election Irregularities.
According to report, the 60-year-old president known as “Fatshi” has picked Kinshasa’s 80,000-capacity Martyrs sports stadium for the ceremony.
In January 2019, Tshisekedi held his initial inauguration amid controversy, defeating Joseph Kabila.
The ceremony took in the Palace of Nations’ gardens, a solemn setting for significant official occasions.
Upon assuming the presidency, he pledged to enhance living standards in the mineral-rich yet largely impoverished DRC, striving to halt 25 years of conflict in the eastern region.
He has not kept those promises but this time around he campaigned strongly on his first-term achievements such as free primary medication, asking for another mandate to “consolidate” the progress.
More than 40 million people were registered to vote on December 20 for a president, as well as national and regional lawmakers and municipal councillors.
Moise Katumbi, a former governor of the central region of Katanga, came a distant second with 18.08 percent.
Martin Fayulu, who says he was also robbed at the last presidential vote, garnered five percent.
Nobel peace prize winner Denis Mukwege, who won the Nobel peace prize winner for his work with rape victims, scored 0.22 percent.
These candidates called for the election results to be cancelled. A protest planned for December 27 was banned and snuffed out by the police.
The archbishop of Kinshasa denounced the elections as a “gigantic, organised mess”.
Accusations of fraud and an “electoral hold-up” have not abated and the fear of violence remains real in a country with a dark political past.
AFP
