Coveting Freedom

In a rare interview with reporters, the incumbent serenely rejected complaints from his chief rival and outside observers that the election was not credible.

Key to understanding Congo today is understanding the violence that has defined the country's recent history. The Enough Project gives some background.

Many residents in the sprawling dilapidated capital of Kinshasa feared the outcome would stoke new spasms of political violence.

With President Joseph Kabila likely to win re-election when the final results are announced, Congo’s main concern is how supporters of his opponent, Étienne Tshisekedi, will react.

Last Monday 28 November the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo voted in the second general election since the ravages of the 1998-2003 war that eventually caused over 5 million deaths. The conflict, fuelled by a complex mesh of ethnic rivalries, political disputes, and vested interests in Congo's vast mineral wealth, persists to this day in the east of the huge country, particularly in the Kivu provinces. The first elections, in 2006, were characterised by violence as the armed forces and supporters of rival political groups and presidential candidates clashed in the capital, Kinshasa, and in a number of other provinces.

In eastern Congo's South Kivu region, one of the most-conflict ridden areas of the country, pessimism is widespread, particularly when it comes to the candidates themselves.