Congo denies the option of holding another election despite reported irregularities highlighted by observers

The government of Congo has rejected the opposition’s request for a redo of the disputed elections, despite the main observer mission reporting numerous irregularities that could undermine the results. President Felix Tshisekedi currently holds a significant lead according to provisional results, but his opponents are calling for the annulment of the election due to widespread issues with the voting process.

This dispute adds to the instability in Congo, which is already dealing with a security crisis in certain regions. The country is a major producer of cobalt and other industrial minerals and metals. The joint vote-monitoring mission of the Catholic Church and Protestant Church, based on feedback from thousands of observers, has documented numerous irregularities that could impact the integrity of the results.

The mission raised concerns about the legality of the election commission’s decision to extend voting beyond the scheduled date and reported that voting was not fully concluded until December 27.

While opposition figures like Moise Katumbi have ruled out using legal channels to challenge the results, the government spokesperson emphasized the need to wait for the full results to be published and then challenge them in court if necessary. The government claims to be committed to a fair and transparent election process and dismissed the opposition’s threat of further protests.

Muyaya emphasized that any contestation of the election results should not occur in the streets, and the government is committed to maintaining public order.

The CENI is expected to release more provisional presidential results before the December 31 deadline. Currently, Tshisekedi is leading with over 76% of the votes counted so far, surpassing his 18 competitors. However, the CENI has not disclosed the number of registered voters who participated in the election. The CENI has processed the results from 46,422 polling stations out of 75,969. The opposition and independent observers have raised concerns about the CENI’s failure to follow proper procedures in tabulating and publishing the results.

Despite a request for comment, the CENI has not responded. Symocel, a local civil society observer mission, sent a letter to the CENI highlighting reports of mishandling election materials and conducting operations outside official centers.

The coordinator of Symocel confirmed the authenticity of the letter and expressed concerns about both the election process and the vote counting. The CENCO-ECC mission recommended that the CENI only publish results based on accurately consolidated tallies from local centers.