Republic of Congo

KINSHASA, Jan 1 (NNN-IRIN) – Felix Tshisekedi has been re-elected as president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for a second five-year term, securing 73.34 percent of the total votes cast in the elections, held on Dec 20, the Independent National Electoral Commission said, yesterday.

Moise Katumbi, one of the main opposition candidates, attained the second position with about 18 percent of the votes, according to the commission.

The commission reported that over 18 million people, out of a total of 44 million registered voters, cast their ballots.

KINSHASA, Dec 28 (Reuters) - The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Thursday refused opposition calls for a re-run of disputed elections, as the main observer mission reported "numerous irregularities" that could undermine some results.

Provisional results issued so far from the Dec. 20 general election show President Felix Tshisekedi with a commanding lead, but his opponents have demanded they be annulled, citing widespread issues with the roll-out and tabulation of the vote.

KINSHASA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Voters in Democratic Republic of Congo were waiting on Friday for the first results from general elections after an unscheduled day-long ballot extension that prompted some opposition candidates to cry foul and call for a rerun.

The vote will determine whether President Felix Tshisekedi serves a second term after a first five years in office marked by economic hardship and spiralling insecurity in Congo's rebel-plagued east.

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Lengthy delays at the polls forced officials on Wednesday to extend voting in Congo’s presidential election as many residents in the mineral-rich West African nation struggled to cast ballots because of steep logistical and security challenges, raising concerns about the integrity of the process.

Polling stations that never opened on Wednesday will conduct voting on Thursday, Denis Kadima, chair of the electoral commission, said on local radio.

KINSHASA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The campaign for the presidential, legislative and local elections, scheduled for Dec. 20, 2023, officially began Sunday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Twenty-six candidates for the presidential elections have been registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), including President Felix Tshisekedi who is competing for his reelection.

BRAZZAVILLE, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President William Ruto said on Saturday that Kenya will lift visa requirements for all Africans by the end of 2023 with the aim of boosting trade with African countries.

"By the end of this year, no African will need a visa to enter Kenya. The time has come to understand the importance of doing trade between us," said Ruto, while speaking at the summit of the world's three major forest basins, namely the Amazon, Congo, and Borneo-Mekong Forest Basins, in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo.

KINSHASA, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Elaboration on the withdrawal plan of the peacekeeping mission from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will be completed by Nov. 15, DRC Vice Prime Minister Christophe Lutundula said late Monday.

Lutundula, also the Congolese foreign minister, outlined the key phases of the withdrawal plan of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), at a press conference held Monday evening in Kinshasa, the capital of DRC, saying the elaboration on the plan already began Monday between the Congolese side and MONUSCO.

GOMA (DR Congo), Oct 17 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Seven members of a family were burnt to death on Saturday night in an “arson attack” in Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, police said.

The fire broke out at around 11pm in the Katoyi neighbourhood, according to neighbours who heard the occupants of the burning house shouted for help.

According to these witnesses, the house was locked from the outside while the father, mother and children were inside.

KINSHASA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday inaugurated the Sakania dry port in the DRC, a Chinese-built megaproject and currently the largest of its kind in Central Africa.

During his field inspection, Tshisekedi described the dry port of Sakania as a modern one, hoping it could serve as an example for other ports of the DRC.

Bordering Zambia, the dry port, located in southeastern Haut-Katanga province, is a main border post of the DRC and constitutes an important mining channel.

LISALA (Mongala, DRCongo), Sept 18 (NNN-DAILYNEWS) —  Seventeen people have been killed by a landslide in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The disaster occurred overnight on Sunday near the banks of the Congo river, in the northern city of Lisala, the capital of Mongala province.

Seven women, seven men and three children under five years died.

They were buried the same day due to lack of space to keep them at the local mortuary, Lisala official Désiré Koyo said.