By Staff Reporter
BRAZZAVILLE, March 18 – Denis Sassou Nguesso has been re-elected for a fifth term as President of the Republic of the Congo, securing 94.8% of the vote in a highly contested election.
The 82-year-old leader, one of Africa’s longest-serving heads of state, extended his decades-long grip on power following a vote that observers say was marked by low turnout and a constrained opposition landscape, with at least two opposition figures reportedly jailed ahead of the polls.
While independent observers questioned voter participation levels, Interior Minister Raymond Zephirin Mboulou stated that turnout reached 84.65% nationwide.
Thousands of supporters rallied in Brazzaville on the final day of campaigning, where Sassou Nguesso pledged to boost the country’s gas and agricultural sectors in an effort to drive economic self-sufficiency.
Sassou Nguesso first came to power in 1979 under a one-party system before losing the country’s first multiparty election in 1992. He returned to power in 1997 and has since been re-elected in 2002, 2009, 2016, and 2021, in elections that opposition groups have consistently criticized as lacking transparency.
The president has often credited his administration with maintaining stability in the oil-rich nation, but human rights organizations accuse his government of suppressing dissent and targeting opposition activists. Despite its natural resource wealth, more than half of the population continues to live below the poverty line, according to international estimates.
Critics also allege that economic growth has been undermined by mismanagement of oil revenues, with accusations that significant funds have been diverted by senior officials. The administration has faced multiple investigations abroad, particularly in France.
The provisional election results are still subject to validation by the Constitutional Court. If confirmed, this term is expected to be Sassou Nguesso’s last, as the constitution bars him from running again in 2031.
He remains among Africa’s longest-serving leaders, alongside Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea and Paul Biya of Cameroon.
In remarks to international media, Sassou Nguesso stated that he would not remain “in power forever,” adding that a new generation of leaders will eventually take over, although he did not identify a potential successor. — Namibia Daily News
