KINSHASA/GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo held presidential and legislative elections on Wednesday - a vote disrupted by hours-long delays, opposition allegations of fraud, violence, and logistical setbacks that could prevent many from participating.
At stake is not just the legitimacy of the next administration. Congolese election disputes often spark unrest with potentially far-reaching consequences. Congo is the world's third-largest copper producer, and the top producer of cobalt, a battery component needed for the green transition.
The national election commission (CENI) acknowledged that some polling stations across the country had opened late, leading to hundreds of people still waiting to vote in some areas at 5.00 p.m., when polls were scheduled to close.
The CENI promised that all polling stations would remain open the requisite 11 hours, but independent religious and civil society observers have sounded the alarm about the delays and other issues, including malfunctioning electronic voting systems and violent attacks.
"It is total chaos," said presidential candidate Martin Fayulu, runner-up in the disputed 2018 presidential election.
"If all the people don't vote in all the polling stations indicated by the CENI, we won't accept these elections," Fayulu warned after voting in the capital Kinshasa.
President Felix Tshisekedi is competing against 18 opposition challengers in the hope of a second term running the mineral-rich yet poverty-stricken nation.
Opposition candidates have wooed voters with pledges to bring stability, peace, and the economic development they say was absent from Tshisekedi's first term.
POLLING STATION CONCERNS
Towards the scheduled end of voting, another presidential candidate, Nobel Peace Laureate Denis Mukwege, released a statement to condemn what he called "the proliferation of serious dysfunction and irregularities ... which confirm our fears of evidently planned electoral fraud."
We "fear that the results of such a chaotic vote will not reflect the will of the people," he said.
Meanwhile millionaire businessman and former governor Moise Katumbi, a strong challenger in the presidential race, urged his supporters to monitor the publication of results in each polling station.
"The only results that we will accept are results that must be posted at each polling station. For now I'll not judge the organisation of the vote but there are many failures," he said after voting in the mining town of Lubumbashi.
The tumult of election day caps a fraught campaign marked by a spate of political violence and repeated warnings from the opposition and observers about threats to transparency. Their concerns include issues with the voter list and illegible ID cards.
The election commission has repeatedly rejected the opposition's allegations of mismanagement and fraud.
In the eastern cities of Goma and Beni, some polling stations opened hours late and people struggled to find their names on voter lists, according to Reuters witnesses. At one centre in Goma, voting machines' batteries ran out, leaving large crowds of people unable to vote as darkness fell.
In Bunia, also in eastern Congo, security forces fired warning shots to disperse protesters after a voting centre was vandalised and kits destroyed, a Reuters reporter said.
ELECTORAL TRANSPARENCY
For months, the CENI insisted it could deliver a free and fair vote as promised across Africa's second-largest country, even as critics flagged irregularities they said would jeopardise the legitimacy of the results.
About 44 million Congolese are registered to take part in the election, which also includes regional ballots.
As voting day neared, the CENI sought extra helicopters, raising concerns about its ability to open polling stations in areas otherwise unreachable due to bad roads or a lack of security.
On the eve of the vote, CENI president Denis Kadima warned that expected voting delays could mean some people would have to vote after Wednesday. "The principle is that no Congolese should be left behind," he said on state television.
The CENCO observer mission of Congo's powerful Catholic church on Wednesday warned such an extension would undermine the integrity of the results. "We recommend the CENI clarify what it intends to do," said CENCO Secretary-General Donatien Nshole.
Full provisional results are expected by Dec 31.
The presidential election will be decided in a single round, requiring a simple majority of the vote to win.
In Beni, some voters were undeterred by the delays. "Even with night falling, I will wait," said 28-year-old homemaker Rebecca Tommy, standing in line nearly two hours after polls were meant to close.
"I am still waiting here to vote because it is my right."