The Republic of Congo votes in presidential elections today Sunday with incumbent Denis Sassou Nguesso aiming to extend his decades-long hold on power in the Central African state.
Nguesso, 77, nicknamed “Emperor,” has accumulated 36 years in office — he was most recently re-elected in 2016, after which the opposition was effectively sidelined and his two main rivals sentenced to 20 years’ forced labour.
Six other candidates are supposed to be contesting the presidency, but the retired general appears favoured to win a fourth term as his strongest rival Guy Parfait Kolelas is down with covid-19, fighting for his life in hospital.
The largest opposition group, the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy, is already boycotting the ballot.
Sassou Nguesso has placed youth and the development of agriculture at the heart of his campaign, decrying it “shameful” that the country imports most of what it consumes despite its farming resources.
But his pitch to youth seems to have raised a mixed response in a country where most of the population of five million are people aged under 25 who have never known another president.
Sitting between Gabon and its giant neighbour the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo has significant oil reserves and 80 per cent of its budget comes from petroleum.
Congo’s Catholic Church episcopal conference has already expressed “serious reservations” about the transparency of the ballot and fears a possible internet shutdown on Sunday, as in the 2016 election.
