Polling stations opened Wednesday in a high-stakes Democratic Republic of Congo general election pitting the incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi against a fragmented opposition, as much of the east of the country is mired in conflict.
Polling stations opened at 6 am (0400 GMT) and will close at 5 pm local time.
AFP journalists saw the first voter casting his ballot at a polling station in the eastern city of Kisangani, which sits in a region an hour ahead of the rest of the huge country, which straddles two time zones.
Voters still waiting in line at 5 pm will be given tokens and polling booths will stay open until they cast their votes, an official at the electoral commission told AFP.
The government declared a bank holiday for Wednesday, and as during previous elections, it closed the borders and suspended domestic flights. Around 44 million Congolese, in a nation of 100 million, are registered to choose their president as well as lawmakers in national and provincial assemblies, and local councillors.
The First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Kataaha Museveni has expressed gratitude for the significant progress and achievements in the year.
The minister acknowledged the outstanding dedication of teachers, coaches, and non-teaching staff, emphasizing their pivotal role in ensuring uninterrupted learning and growth across all educational levels.
In a first, Congolese citizens residing in South Africa, Belgium, the United States and France will also cast ballots.
More than 100,000 candidates are running for various positions, and while counting is set to begin as soon as polling stations close, results are not expected to be announced for several days.
Several observation missions will be watching the voting process, with the largest one run by a union of Catholic and Protestant churches mobilising 25,000 election observers.
The incumbent, who took office in 2019 and is running for a second five-year term, is considered the front-runner to win in the single-round presidential vote.
Tshisekedi’s record, as he himself has acknowledged, is mixed. He has presided over years of economic growth but little job creation and soaring inflation. He is asking for another term to “consolidate his gains”.
Throughout the campaign, he also poured scorn on what he termed “foreign candidates” — suggesting that his opponents have dual loyalties and lack the will to stand up to Rwanda, which the DRC accuses of funding rebel groups on its soil.
Moise Katumbi, a 58-year-old businessman and former governor of mineral-rich Katanga province, is the main target of such attacks.
Armed conflict in eastern DRC overshadowed much of the electoral campaign.
Militias have plagued the troubled region for decades, a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.
Tensions have resumed since the M23 group, which is allegedly backed by Rwanda, began capturing swathes of territory in late 2021.
