Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo on Wednesday said it had pulled accreditation for a French radio journalist and cut off the station’s broadcasts amid tensions over the counting of votes in crucial elections. The authorities said accreditation for the Radio France Internationale (RFI) correspondent in Kinshasa, Florence …
Read More »DRC cuts internet to avoid ‘uprising’ after vote
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The DR Congo government said Tuesday it had cut the country’s internet services to avert a “popular uprising” as tensions rise pending the results of fractious presidential elections. The opposition accused authorities of cutting the internet on Monday to thwart activism, while leading Western …
Read More »Western powers urge DR Congo to restore Internet
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Leading western powers on Tuesday called on the Democratic Republic of Congo to restore internet access, which operators say was cut on government orders a day earlier following presidential elections. They also backed a request by the main Congolese election monitoring organisations to have …
Read More »Chad to hold parliamentary election in first half of 2019: president
N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | Chad’s President Idriss Deby said Monday that repeatedly postponed legislative and local elections in the central African state will be held in the first half of 2019. It will be the poor, oil-rich state’s first legislative elections since 2011. The vote had originally been scheduled …
Read More »Tense DR Congo counts vote in presidential poll
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday began counting ballots from a presidential election marked by delays and fears of violence and vote-rigging, straining hopes for its first-ever peaceful transfer of power. Sunday’s elections went ahead after two years of delays and sporadic clashes …
Read More »Ebola, violence-weary DRC region proudly stages unofficial vote
Beni, DR Congo | AFP | Thousands of voters, weary from frequent armed attacks and an ongoing Ebola outbreak, proudly cast ballots in a northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo — even though they will count for nothing. Citing security and health fears, the country’s national electoral commission …
Read More »DR Congo awaits result after volatile presidential election
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday began a tense wait for the results of a volatile presidential election which could see the first peaceful transfer of power in decades. Sunday’s elections went ahead in “relative calm”, according to the country’s influential Catholic Bishop …
Read More »Four killed in eastern DR Congo province: Tshisekedi campaign
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Four people including a police officer and an electoral official were killed Sunday in eastern South-Kivu province as the DR Congo voted in presidential elections, the campaign of opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi said. The officer and official were killed along with two civilians during …
Read More »Voting winds up in volatile DRC’s long-awaited election
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | After two years of delays, the Democratic Republic of Congo voted Sunday in presidential elections that will determine the future of Africa’s notoriously unstable giant. The country’s Catholic Bishop Council said the voting took place in “relative calm”, based on their observations in 78 …
Read More »Volatile DR Congo votes after two-year delay
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Presidential elections that will shape the future of one of Africa’s biggest and most unstable countries were underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday after a two-year delay. Queues formed at polling stations, where observers reported early hitches, including with electronic voting …
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