DR Congo votes in tense election

28 November 2011 Last updated at 09:35 GMT

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

BBC’s Will Ross: “One of the key issues is whether the ballot material has reached all the villages”

Polls have opened for the Democratic Republic of Congo’s general elections, after a run-up marred by violence and logistical difficulties.

There are some reports of delays due to a lack of polling material and voters unable to cast their ballots.

Tensions are high after opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, 78, accused President Joseph Kabila, 40, of planning to rig the election.

It is the second poll since the end of wars which left four million dead.

At least three people were killed on Saturday in election clashes, leading to a police ban on final campaign rallies in this mineral-rich country, which is two-thirds the size of Western Europe.

Ahead of the vote, international organisations appealed for calm.

Some 22,000 UN peacekeepers are stationed around the country and are expected to help prevent any outbreaks of violence.

Helicopter deliveries

Election officials have been scrambling to get ballot papers distributed to all 60,000 of the polling stations in this vast country which has very little transport infrastructure.

In many inaccessible areas, voting material was delivered by helicopter.

Despite calls for the election to be delayed to give time to improve the preparations, election officials said on Sunday that everything was 99% ready.

Polling stations opened at 0600 local time. Because of the time difference in this continent-sized country, this was 0400 GMT in eastern areas and an hour later in the west.

The BBC’s Christophe Pons in Kinshasa says all the voting material is in place at the polling stations he has visited and the election is proceeding smoothly although not many voters are braving the heavy rains.

However, the AP news agency reports that voting has been delayed due to a lack of ink in some areas, while some voters have told the BBC they have been unable to cast their ballots – either because they cannot find their names on the electoral register, or because someone had already voted in their place.

The BBC’s Mamadou Moussa Ba in the south-eastern mining capital of Lubumbashi says that two vehicles carrying election materials were attacked overnight just outside the city by unknown gunmen.

Two people were wounded and all the voting equipment destroyed.

In all, 11 candidates are running for president and more than 18,000 are vying for seats in the 500-member parliament.

In some areas, the ballot paper runs to several pages and resembles a newspaper because there are so many parliamentary candidates.

This is likely to cause some confusion in a country where one-third of adults cannot read or write.

On Sunday, Mr Tshisekedi called off a rally which would have contravened the ban on political gatherings imposed after his supporters came to blows with those of President Kabila on Saturday, leaving three people dead.

Mr Tshisekedi had vowed to ignore the ban and became locked in a seven-hour stand-off with police at Kinshasa airport on Sunday. It ended when he agreed to call off the rally.

Scuffles erupted and police fired tear gas and live ammunition to break up the crowds.

The European Union observer mission criticised both the police and the various candidates over the pre-election violence.

Delaying Mr Tshisekedi from leaving the airport had been “a serious impediment” to his right to campaign, the mission said.

The United Nations too, criticised the security forces.

“The security forces should refrain from any acts that could heighten tensions and create any difficulties on the eve of elections,” Reuters news agency quoted Mounoubai Madnodje, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, as saying.

The last election, in 2006, was marred by weeks of street battles led by supporters of the losing candidate, Jean-Pierre Bemba.

A former rebel leader, he is now on trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says that whether it is peaceful or not this time will depend to a great extent on the behaviour of the candidates and whether the losers are willing to accept defeat.

Inside DR Congo

• SIZE
• MINERAL WEALTH
• TRANSPORT
• POPULATION
• DATA

The Democratic Republic of Congo covers 2,344,858 square km of land in the centre of Africa, making it the 12th largest country in the world.

DR Congo has abundant mineral wealth. It has more than 70% of the world’s coltan, used to make vital components of mobile phones, 30% of the planet’s diamond reserves and vast deposits of cobalt, copper and bauxite. This wealth however has attracted looters and fuelled the country’s civil war.

Despite the country’s size, transport infrastructure is very poor. Of 153,497km of roads, only 2,794km are paved. There are around 4,000 km of railways but much is narrow-gauge track and in poor condition. Waterways are vital to transport goods but journeys can take months to complete. Overcrowded boats frequently capsize, while DR Congo has more plane crashes than any other country.

With an estimated population of 71 million, DR Congo is the fourth most populous country in Africa. Some 35% of the population live in cities and the capital Kinshasa is by far the largest, with more than 8 million inhabitants. DR Congo has around 200 ethnic identities with the majority of people belonging to the Kongo, Luba and Mongo groups.

Given its size and resources DR Congo should be a prosperous country, but years of war, corruption and economic mismanagement have left it desperately poor. In 2011 it lags far behind in many key development indicators, with average life expectancy increasing by only 2 years since 1980, after a period when it actually fell during the mid 1990s.