Uchaguzi wa urais wa Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo (DRC) unakabiliwa na mgogoro wa uhalali kutokana na wito wa upinzani wa kufuta kura kutokana na udanganyifu uliodaiwa.
Wapinzani watano, ikiwa ni pamoja na aliyekuwa Gavana wa Mkoa Moise Katumbi, walisema Jumamosi kwamba kura hiyo haipaswi kuthibitishwa kwani ilikuwa imeharibiwa na "udanganyifu mkubwa."
Viongozi wengine watano wa upinzani, ikiwa ni pamoja na mshindi wa Tuzo ya Amani ya Nobel Denis Mukwege na aliyekuwa mtendaji wa mafuta Martin Fayulu, wametoa wito wa maandamano dhidi ya matokeo Jumatano ijayo.
"Tutapinga dhidi ya irregula zilizobainika wakati wa shughuli za kupiga kura," walisema katika barua kwa gavana wa Kinshasa, ambapo wanapanga kukusanyika.
Watu takriban milioni 44 katika taifa tajiri la Afrika ya Kati kwa madini walikuwa wamejiandikisha kupiga kura katika uchaguzi wa kumchagua rais wa nchi, wabunge wa kitaifa na wa kikanda, na madiwani wa mitaa.
Rais Felix Tshisekedi, ambaye alikuwa na kiongozi mkubwa katika matokeo ya awali ya wapiga kura wa diaspora, anawania kuchaguliwa tena dhidi ya wagombea 18 wa upinzani.
Serikali za Magharibi zimetoa wito wa kujizuia kwa hofu ya kutokea kwa vurugu kama ilivyotokea baada ya matokeo ya uchaguzi yaliyopingwa hapo awali.
---
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.
President Felix Tshisekedi, who had a sizeable
lead in preliminary results of voting by diaspora voters, is running for re-election against 18 opposition candidates.
Western governments have called for restraint amid fears of a repeat of the violence that has followed disputed election results in the past.
In a joint statement on Saturday, 12 European embassies and the Canadian embassy called for restraint.
“As the vote counting continues, we urge all stakeholders, especially political actors, candidates and their supporters, to exercise restraint, allow the process to unfold, and raise their concerns peacefully,” the embassies said.
The vote has been marred by accusations of corruption and chaotic organisation since it kicked off on Wednesday, with authorities extending the poll into Thursday after some polling stations failed to open and some voters could not find their names on registers.
Al Jazeera