Dr Congo Bans Protests Against Presidential Poll Irregularities

The Dr. Congo government said Tuesday that it will outlaw an opposition-led demonstration planned for Wednesday to protest alleged “irregularities” in last week’s elections.

Five opposition presidential candidates informed the governor of Kinshasa in a letter published Saturday of their intention to organize the march.

But with definitive results still not announced, the government said the protests will be disruptive.

Interior minister Peter Kazadi told journalists that protest march would not be allowed to hold.

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Extremely partial results released by the electoral commission show incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi well ahead, with 80 percent of some 1.8 million ballots counted so far.

Some independent observers also said the extension compromised the credibility of the election.

The CENI has dismissed those concerns. It started releasing results over the weekend that put Tshisekedi ahead of his 18 challengers, with 80% of around 2.8 million votes counted so far.

But the commission has not disclosed how many of the around 44 million registered voters cast their ballot, nor given any indication of what the latest given figure represents in relation to the total number of votes.

Another presidential candidate, Moise Katumbi, added his voice to the protest organisers’ concerns and has called for the head of the CENI to resign.