Congo Elections Weren't Free, U.S. House Committee Says
- Congolese voted Sunday to find successor to Joseph Kabila
- Electoral commission to release provisional results by Jan. 6
Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) agents count votes while watched by observers at Kiwele college in Lubumbashi on Dec. 30.
Photographer: Caroline Thirion/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee urged authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo to make sure votes are counted transparently, saying Sunday’s presidential election had been “neither free nor fair.”
Congolese went to the polls to find a successor to long-serving President Joseph Kabila in a vote that was already two years overdue, with Kabila’s protege Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary running for the ruling coalition. The two main opposition alliances said Monday the election was disorderly and people couldn’t vote in some anti-Kabila areas because of broken voting machines or missing voter rolls.