DR Congo’s Katumbi calls for election to be annulled as protests planned
Al Jazeera
Western governments call for restraint amid fears of a repeat of violence that has followed past elections.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) presidential election is facing a crisis of legitimacy amid opposition calls for the vote to be annulled due to alleged fraud.
Five opposition candidates, including former provincial Governor Moise Katumbi, said on Saturday the vote should not stand as it had been tainted by “massive fraud.”
Five other opposition leaders, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege and former oil executive Martin Fayulu, have called for a protest march against the result next Wednesday.
“We will protest against the irregularities noted during the voting operations,” they said in a letter to the governor of Kinshasa, where they plan to rally.
About 44 million people in the mineral-rich Central African nation were registered to vote in the elections to choose the country’s president, national and regional lawmakers, and local councillors.
