Daniel Finnan
3 December 2011
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s incumbent president Joseph Kabila is leading the presidential election, according to partial results announced by the country’s electoral commission on Friday. The figures represent 15 per cent of the country’s polling stations and include almost no results from Kinshasa.
Incumbent president Kabila has around 1.5 million ballots, or 52 per cent. With main opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi taking just under one million, or a third of those already counted.
These figures include almost no results from the Kinshasa, where Tshisekedi is expected to garner strong support. Results from the capital were only available from two polling stations representing a small fraction of the vote.
Preliminary results from the 28th November presidential polls were not expected until the 6th December.
However, the DRC’s electoral commission decided to provide an update in order to dispel circulating rumours and proclamations of victory.
The electoral commission chief also commented on the hacking of their website after fictitious results had been posted online.
“We condemn the hacking of our website,” Daniel Ngoy Mulunda told journalists in Kinshasa. “They have put results online which are not ours,” he added.
The partial results are intended to help relieve tension. Already, some people from Kinshasa have crossed the river to Brazzaville where the hotels are full.
Several international organisations like the World Bank and western embassies have asked their expatriate staff to take time off and leave the country.
The UN mission in the DRC (Monusco) ordered its staff to respect a curfew on Friday night. While Friday’s Brussels Airlines flight had no seats left, other than a few in business class, forcing many Belgians to opt for a Royal Air Maroc flight via Casablanca.
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