Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What you need to know about the election

Sunday's vote for a new president in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been hit by a series of delays that have left people frustrated.

The failure of new electronic voting machines in some polling stations was one of the challenges.

Polls have now closed in an election that is expected to bring the country's first peaceful transfer of power since independence in 1960.

President Joseph Kabila is stepping down after 17 years in power.

The final result is expected be announced in a week's time.

The election should have taken place two years ago but was repeatedly postponed because of logistical problems, officials said.

The run-up to the poll had been hit by violence and controversy over the decision to exclude some 1.26 million out of an electorate of nearly 40 million from voting.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Queues formed nationwide, including here at Sake in North Kivu

Polls officially closed at 17:00 (16:00 GMT), but people still in the queue at that time were allowed to vote.

How did the day go?

Things started slowly in the capital, Kinshasa, because of heavy rain.

There have been delays in a number of areas because of problems with the electronic voting machines, which are being used for the first time.

There was frustration in Limete, a district of Kinshasa, as the electoral register had not been delivered and people were unable to vote.

Those waiting then booed the head of the electoral commission (Ceni), Corneille Nangaa, who had come to the scene.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Voters made a choice on a touch-screen computer and the ballot paper was then printed

One voter there, Fidele Imani, told the BBC he felt positive after voting. "We have been waiting for two years and I'm happy to vote today," he said.

"We want change here, we need peace and security and people need more employment opportunities."

There were isolated incidents of violence. A police officer and a civilian were killed in Walungu, South Kivu province, in an altercation at a polling station, a UN official told the BBC.

Voters eventually see 'historic day'

Louise Dewast, BBC News, Kinshasa

Image copyright Reuters

I visited two polling stations throughout the day. At the first location, one electronic voting machine broke down, causing delays, but generally the mood was calm.

I arrived at the second location six hours after polling stations were meant to have opened - but no one could vote because electoral rolls hadn't arrived.

At least 200 people were waiting, angry at the situation. Finally the electoral roll arrived and voting started.

Similar issues were reported by observers in several other locations.

Despite a chaotic electoral process, in general voters seemed motivated and glad this historic day finally took place.

Who's running for president?

Image copyright AFP/Reuters Image caption Opposition candidates Martin Fayulu (L) and Felix Tshisekedi (R) face Emmanuel Shadary (C), the former interior minister

There are 21 candidates, but three frontrunners:

Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary , a former interior minister and Kabila loyalist, who was hit by European Union sanctions for his role in the violent suppression of opposition protests in 2017

, a former interior minister and Kabila loyalist, who was hit by European Union sanctions for his role in the violent suppression of opposition protests in 2017 Martin Fayulu , a former oil executive who has promised "a dignified and prosperous Congo", but who poor Congolese feel may not advance their cause

, a former oil executive who has promised "a dignified and prosperous Congo", but who poor Congolese feel may not advance their cause Felix Tshisekedi Tshilombo, the son of a late veteran opposition leader who has promised to make the fight against poverty his priority

Regional observers monitored the vote but international observers, who had concluded previous elections in the country had lacked credibility, have not been invited.

'Citizen votes'

This week, voting in three districts was postponed until March, with the electoral commission blaming insecurity and an Ebola virus outbreak.

The decision in effect cancelled over one million votes, as the new president is due to be sworn in by mid-January regardless.

But some activists in places where polling has been cancelled have organised their own election, dubbed "citizen votes", the BBC's Gaius Kowene reports from the main eastern city of Goma.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Activists used materials from a previous election to set up their own vote

They are using ballot boxes from the 2011 elections and printed their own voting papers.

"We want to show the Ceni that if they fail to organise elections here because of Ebola, we can do it," organiser Katembo Malikidogo told the BBC.

More on the key presidential hopefuls

What's the context for these elections?

The current president took over from his assassinated father Laurent in 2001, but he was barred from running for another term under the constitution.

He was supposed to step down two years ago, but the election was postponed after the electoral commission said it needed more time to register voters.

Image copyright AFP Image caption President Joseph Kabila is stepping down after 17 years in power

The decision triggered violent clashes, as the opposition accused Mr Kabila of trying to cling on to power.

Then last week, the election was delayed again.

Speaking at a polling station, the president tried to address concerns about the voting, saying: "It's clear that the elections are free and fair."</s>Lengthy voting delays and four deaths were reported across Congo on Sunday, marring the presidential election the country hoped would be its first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960.

Election observers reported multiple problems around the vast Central African nation, which is choosing a successor to President Joseph Kabila after his 17 years in power. The election had been delayed since late 2016, prompting the opposition to charge that Mr Kabila was trying to stay on past his mandate.

Among some 21 candidates, top opposition leaders Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi are challenging Mr Kabila's preferred successor, former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, who is under European Union sanctions for a crackdown on people protesting delays to the election.</s>Mvemba Phezo Dizolele is a lecturer at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He served as an election monitor with the Carter Center in Congo in 2006 and 2011.

As the sun sets on yet another turbulent year marked by widespread violence and uncertainty, the Congolese people are looking to the new year with trepidation. The source of their anxiety is none other than President Joseph Kabila, the 47-year-old who has overstayed his two constitutionally-mandated five-year terms, the last of which expired in 2016.

Kabila, who has fostered this crisis, should be held personally responsible for further election-related deaths by his security forces and any further breaches of the rights to expression, information, assembly or association. He should not be allowed to hold Congo and the region hostage to his whims.

For the past seven years, Kabila has used every trick in the dictator’s toolkit to stay in power. He has sought to emulate his peers in Congo Republic, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda who have managed to adjust the law, either via referendum or other means, and cling to power.

Congo, however, is unique. The country boasts a strong civil society, a vibrant press, a committed youth movement and a politically astute electorate. In every electoral cycle, the population has voted out of office the vast majority of members of parliament. And, as an institution, the Congolese parliament has been known for its independent streak since the beginning of the republic.

Ignoring this reality, Kabila attempted to change the constitution and lift term limits. But his efforts, which met with strong popular resistance, failed. He bribed his followers in the National Assembly to pass legislation that would tie the election to a national census, which could take years, delay the poll and keep him in office. But the population took to the streets in protest, and the Senate defeated the initiative.

Kabila then reconfigured the Constitutional Court and appointed judges he could control, to little avail. So he refused to fund and hold the election, a position that changed only when Nikki Haley, the United States' ambassador to the United Nations, met with him in Kinshasa in October 2017. She insisted that a date be set and agreed upon: Dec. 23, 2018.

Since then Kabila has done everything he can to derail the electoral process. His minister of justice and the court invalidated two prominent candidates, Jean-Pierre Bemba and Moïse Katumbi, under questionable charges. Security forces have been deployed regularly to disrupt opposition candidate Martin Fayulu’s rallies and have killed several civilians at these events. The government has denied opposition candidates access to the national radio and television stations.

To protect his hold on power, Kabila is resorting to violence. He spares no means to crush those who stand in his way. He responds to peaceful protests with disproportionate force. His security forces kill unarmed civilians with total impunity. The fields of Congo are full of mass graves from Kongo Central to Kinshasa to Kasai. Disappearances are commonplace, and prisons overflow with disillusioned young people who dared to protest for their right to education, employment and good health — their God-given right to a decent life. This situation is unacceptable.

Donors should stop relying on Congo’s neighbors to solve Congo’s crisis. There are no general African solutions to Congo’s problems. The last time Africans intervened, they did so by launching a war on Congo that killed more than 6 million Congolese. African authoritarians have little incentive to help, since any democratic success in Congo threatens the status quo and internal dynamics in their own countries. Congo is too important to be relegated to the dysfunctional African Union or the disjointed Southern African Development Community.

The time has come to push Kabila to step down. Only one country, the United States, can make a difference. The United States stands out for its commitment to democratic change in Congo. In recent years, Washington has dispatched some of its best envoys, including former senator Russ Feingold, former congressman Tom Perriello and former secretary of state John Kerry, to persuade Kabila to see reason. Haley is just the latest in this line of American officials who have stood with the Congolese people.

There is only a Congolese solution to the crisis, but the United States can help to make it a reality. As attested by the vigorous campaign mounted by the opposition over the last few weeks, the people of Congo are fully committed to democracy and have little interest in the meaningless conflict that has already claimed millions of lives.

The United States should do what it can to help the population realize their democratic aspirations. The Trump administration should start by imposing sanctions on Kabila, his family and close associates, under the Global Magnitsky Act of 2016.

Kabila has come to believe he is untouchable. That must end. He must either resign or be forced out. A transitional government should be set up to organize the election within the next 90 days.

The Post’s View: Why Congo’s election on Sunday will be a travesty

Kambale Musavuli: While Kabila’s lobbyists cleanse his image abroad, his repression in Congo continues

Max Boot: Democracy is in crisis around the world. Why?

Salih Booker and Ari Rickman: The future is African — and the United States is not prepared

Josh Rogin: China is challenging the U.S. in the Horn of Africa — and Washington is silent</s>Democratic Republic of the Congo: A family business 



The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: A family business



A new report by political and security risk consultancy A2 Global Risk offers guidance to businesses and the risks they are likely to face after Kabila steps down



December's presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ought to bring new hope, after autocratic Joseph Kabila in August finally agreed to stand down. But with leading opposition candidates barred and a Kabila loyalist lined up as successor, will it just bring more of the same? A new report by political and security risk consultancy A2 Global Risk offers guidance to businesses and the risks they are likely to face after Kabila steps down.



Download the report: https://www.bit.ly/2R2kqs7



Although the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DCR) is rich in natural resources, including gold, copper and cobalt, little of that wealth reaches its ordinary people; 63 per cent of the population survive on less than USD1.9 per day. Instead, recent investigations have suggested, huge sums could have ended up in the coffers of President Joseph Kabila, his family and cronies.



Analysis of public records suggests that public funds found their way into a complex network of entities controlled by Kabila, his family and allies. An assessment of interests held through Kabila's circle in countries such as Namibia also indicates this.



A presidential election ought to present an opportunity for a fresh start after 17 years of Kabila as president. However, A2 Global Risk Senior Analyst and Sub-Saharan Africa analyst Olivier Milland, author of the report Business risks and the Democratic Republic of the Congo: What happens when Kabila steps down?, is less optimistic.



'The signs are that there will be little real change. The front man will change, but business will likely continue as before.'



Indicators suggest that investment risk will remain high in the wake of the election, A2 Global assesses. These include:



- The December election is unlikely to be free and fair, raising the potential for civil unrest and violence



- Kabila has taken steps to ensure that a staunch supporter succeeds him, reducing the risk of possible prosecution after he steps down



- Meanwhile, Kabila's immediate circle of relatives and friends dominates an opaque business community that is likely to maintain control of much of the wealth in the DRC in the medium term



'With so many vested interests intent in retaining the status quo, this leaves foreign businesses considering market entry in a difficult position



'On one hand, they could face unfair competition from companies with Kabila connections; while on the other they must ensure that dealings do not violate the multitude of national and extra-territorial anti-money-laundering regulations.'



About



A2 Global Risk is a full-service consultancy offering information services, protective security and logistics services. Founded in 2006, Allan & Associates has offices around the world, including London, Hong Kong and Shanghai.



For more information call A2 Global Risk on: +44 (0) 203 102 4050



Email: a2global@a2globalrisk.com



26.09.2018 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de



727545Â Â 26.09.2018Â</s>KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The crowd roared as the wife of Congo’s departing president pressed her palm to the forehead of the anointed successor and appeared to pray.

A benediction for the man whom President Joseph Kabila has positioned to take over is likely not needed. As this huge Central African nation swings toward a Dec. 30 election that could be its first peaceful, democratic transfer of power, a vocal opposition fears that the long-delayed vote will be rigged in favor of Kabila’s ruling party.

Kabila’s chosen candidate, Emanuel Ramazani Shadary, has not made waves in Congolese politics. That’s the point, critics say. They believe Shadary will just keep the presidential seat warm until 2023, when Kabila can return to office.

Kabila supported those suspicions this month when his camp summoned foreign correspondents to the capital, Kinshasa, for rare interviews in which he cheerfully hinted he would be back in five years’ time. The constitution merely blocks three consecutive mandates, he said. “You should never rule out anything.”

And with that, critics warn that Shadary will play Medvedev to Kabila’s Putin, president in name only while Kabila holds power behind the scenes in a country with mineral resources worth trillions of dollars and yet one of the least developed in the world. Russian President Vladimir Putin avoided term limits in 2008 by putting forward an ally, Dmitry Medvedev, as president until he could return four years later.

Kabila in his interview with The Associated Press only mentioned Shadary if asked about him.

When Kabila announced months ago that he would step aside and named his preferred candidate, Shadary offered thanks to “almighty God for the grace he has shown us.” When Kabila’s wife blessed him in front of a campaign crowd earlier this month, he replied, “Amen.”

The 58-year-old Shadary has been described as a loyalist, not only to Kabila but to his father, former President Laurent Kabila. Shadary on Twitter in recent months has posted as much about Joseph Kabila, “an exceptional man in Africa and around the world,” as about himself.

“More soldier than general,” is how the International Crisis Group has described Shadary, pointing out that he does not have an independent power base.

Months before he was announced in August as Kabila’s chosen successor, Shadary told Radio France International he was not a presidential candidate and in fact was going to run for re-election as a national deputy from Maniema province in the east.

Shadary, the father of eight children and a Catholic, is a native of Kabambare in Maniema. He studied political science and rose through the ranks of Kabila’s People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy.

He is a former interior minister, a role in which he directed the government’s response to months of deadly protests across the country over the delayed election, originally due in late 2016. In some of protesters’ most vivid confrontations with security forces, diplomats and others gathered at Kinshasa’s Catholic cathedral were tear-gassed, and altar boys were arrested. Pope Francis appealed for peace.

For his “success in the political crisis,” his ruling party bio says, Shadary was named party secretary-general by Kabila early this year. He also gained the nickname “the man of difficult situations.”

The European Union, however, sanctioned Shadary along with more than a dozen other Congolese officials, accusing him of obstructing Congo’s electoral process and directing the crackdown on protesters.

As the election approached, Congo’s foreign minister this month asked the EU’s foreign policy chief to lift the “illegal” sanctions or at least suspend them for a “probationary period” as a compromise.

But days later, the EU prolonged the sanctions on Shadary and others, saying travel bans and asset freezes would be renewed for a year. Annoyed, Kabila’s special adviser Kikaya Bin Karubi accused the EU of interfering in the election.

Shadary faces the Dec. 30 vote as candidate for the recently formed Common Front for Congo coalition. Kabila is considered its moral authority.

Shadary has two main challengers after opposition parties briefly managed to rally behind a single candidate and then broke apart. Martin Fayulu leads the remainder of that coalition. Felix Tshisekedi, head of Congo’s most prominent opposition party, joined forces with Vital Kamerhe, who finished third in the 2011 election and agreed to throw his party’s support behind him.

Two other opposition candidates with strong followings, Jean-Pierre Bemba and Moise Katumbi, were blocked by Congolese authorities from running.

Whoever receives the most votes wins, even without an absolute majority.

Shadary has vowed to be an effective leader who will act against corruption in a country notorious for it.

But his campaign is not convincing, said Al Kitenge, a Congolese economic analyst. “Shadary’s governance program … is not very ambitious, nor geared toward addressing the challenges of our country.”

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>A coalition group that backs the incumbent president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday claimed that elections took place peacefully despite the difficulties encountered amid a widespread Internet shutdown.

The Common Front for Congo (FCC), a political coalition that supports DRC President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power since January 2001, denied allegations that Sunday's vote was marred by violence and technical issues at polling places, while opposition leaders decried a widespread Internet shutdown across the country.</s>(Bloomberg) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo started voting Sunday for a successor to long-serving President Joseph Kabila after a tense campaign the opposition said was marred by crackdowns and disruptions.

Kabila’s handpicked successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, is running for the ruling coalition and faces strong challenges from opposition alliances headed by Felix Tshisekedi and Martin Fayulu. The current president, in power for almost 18 years, is barred by the constitution from running for a third term, having won elections in 2006 and 2011. Voters will also select national and provincial lawmakers.

“This is going to be a historic vote,” Martin Mudiayi, a shop attendant, said as he waited for his turn to vote in a polling station in the eastern city of Goma. “The time has come for President Kabila and his group to step down and give a chance to a new leadership.”

Congo, Africa’s biggest copper producer and a key source of minerals essential to the smartphone and electric-vehicle industries, could be on the verge of its first transition of power through the ballot box since independence in 1960. Despite the presence of more than 16,000 United Nations peacekeepers in the vast central African country, the government took the unusual step to refuse logistical support from the UN and financial assistance from international donors to organize the vote. It also barred some foreign observers.

“We committed to financing our electoral process entirely ourselves for the very first time in our history,” Kabila said on state TV late Saturday. “For us, it’s an effort to shield our country from foreign interference liable to thwart the will of self-determination of our people.”

The opposition accuses the electoral commission of preparing an election that’ll be neither free nor fair and the Congolese state of hampering their campaigns while aiding Shadary’s. At least seven of Fayulu and Tshisekedi’s supporters were killed and many more wounded by security forces from Dec. 9 to 13 as they gathered for rallies in various parts of the country, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said she was “deeply worried about the reports of excessive use of force, including live ammunition, by security forces against opposition rallies.”

The electoral commission pushed back the polls, already two years late, by another seven days from Dec. 23, blaming a fire at one of its warehouses in the capital, Kinshasa, and also suspended campaigning three days early in the city as Fayulu was planning a mass meeting.

The authority then postponed elections in three parts of the country until March, citing an Ebola outbreak, militia attacks and inter-communal violence. That effectively disenfranchised 1.2 million of Congo’s 40 million registered voters in regions known as strongholds of Kabila’s critics. Health Minister Oly Ilunga previously said the virus wouldn’t hinder elections.

Tshisekedi, the leader of Congo’s largest opposition party, has teamed up with Vital Kamerhe, who heads another major party and came third in 2011’s election, while Fayulu is boosted by the support of heavyweights Jean-Pierre Bemba and Moise Katumbi.

Two recent polls published by New York University’s Congo Research Group record Shadary as trailing the opposition by a large margin, with Tshisekedi topping a survey in October and Fayulu leading a second published Dec. 28.

Provisional results of the presidential contest are due to be announced Jan. 6 and the final decision on Jan. 15. The next head of state is scheduled to be sworn in three days later.

To contact the reporters on this story: William Clowes in Kinshasa at wclowes@bloomberg.net;Ignatius Ssuuna in Goma at issuuna@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, Michael Gunn</s>KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The Latest on Congo's presidential election (all times local):

Amid rainy weather, Congo's outgoing President Joseph Kabila and his chosen successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, have voted in the country's presidential election.

After voting, Kabila urged others to vote: "My message today to my compatriots is to come and vote for their candidates and brave the rain."

Shadary called for "peace and calm," adding "I am very confident in victory because the Congolese people will trust me, I campaigned all over the country."

Polls opened and people began voting in Congo for the long-delayed presidential election, amid worries over the exclusion of three cities from the voting.

"We declare the polling station open" said Francoise Ntadianga Tshiela, head of the the Gombe Institute voting center in the heart of Kinshasa, surrounded by embassies and government offices.

Some unrest is feared in the election after a last-minute decision to bar an estimated 1 million people from voting because of a deadly Ebola virus outbreak in the east. The decision has been widely criticized as threatening the credibility of the election.

Two main opposition candidates, Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi, are challenging President Joseph Kabila's preferred successor, the European Union-sanctioned former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary.

AP writers Saleh Mwanimilongo and Mathilde Boussion contributed to this from Kinshasa, Congo.</s>People in the Democratic Republic of Congo have begun voting in a presidential election that could bring the troubled country’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power.

People in the Democratic Republic of Congo have begun voting in a presidential election that could bring the troubled country’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power.

Voters go to polls in DR Congo presidential election

Some unrest is feared after a last-minute decision to bar an estimated one million people from voting because of a deadly Ebola virus outbreak in the country’s east.

The decision has been widely criticised as threatening the credibility of the election.

Two main opposition candidates, Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi, are challenging President Joseph Kabila’s preferred successor, former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, who is under sanctions from the European Union.

Amid rainy weather in the capital, Kinshasa, Mr Kabila and Mr Shadary voted at the central Gombe Institute polling station.

“My message today to my compatriots is to come and vote for their candidates and brave the rain,” said Mr Kabila.

Mr Shadary called for “peace and calm”, adding: “I am very confident in victory because the Congolese people will trust me, I campaigned all over the country.”

DR Congo’s 40 million registered voters are using electronic voting machines with touch screens for the first time amid opposition concerns that the results could be manipulated.

Some observers have said voting materials did not reach some polling stations in time.

At stake is a country rich in minerals including those crucial to the world’s smartphones and electric cars, and yet DR Congo remains desperately underdeveloped. Corruption and insecurity are widespread.</s>Voters in Democratic Republic of Congo stage protest election after being barred over Ebola outbreak

They were barred from voting in Congo's presidential election, but they voted anyway.



More than 10,000 people lined up in Beni to stage their own presidential election, after the electoral commission made the surprise decision to bar more than 1 million voters in Beni and Butembo last week — cities in eastern Congo affected by a deadly Ebola outbreak.

The vast Central African nation is choosing a successor to President Joseph Kabila after his 17 years in power.

Voting in the Ebola-affected cities of Beni and Butembo was delayed until March, long after Congo's new leader will be inaugurated in January.

Protests followed the decision as people demanded to vote with the rest of the country and attacked Ebola facilities.

The decision was widely criticised as threatening the credibility of the election and putting health workers in danger as people protest.

People in Beni cast paper ballots and sang in Swahili saying "voting is our right and nobody can stop us", and vowed to deliver the results of their own election to the electoral commission.

They washed their hands before voting as a protection against Ebola, which is spread via infected bodily fluids.

The election had been delayed since late 2016, prompting the Opposition to assert that Mr Kabila was trying to stay on past his mandate.

Lengthy voting delays were reported across Congo on Sunday, marring the presidential election the country hoped would be its first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960.

Among some 21 candidates, the top opposition leaders are Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi, who are challenging Mr Kabila's preferred successor, former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary.

Mr Shadary is currently under European Union sanctions for human rights sanctions.

Mr Tshisekedi said some polling stations in Kinshasa, the capital, had not even opened six hours after voting began.

He accused Congo's Government of deliberately creating an election day mess to spark a court challenge that could allow Mr Kabila to extend his time in power.

Two people have also reported to have been killed over alleged voting fraud in the eastern town of Walungu.

A police officer shot and killed a young man at the polling place and the crowd then beat the officer to death, according to a politician and a witness.

The voting machines that Congo was using for the first time posed a special problem: many of the country's 40 million voters have never used a computer, and electricity is limited.

The Opposition also warned that the machines could be used to manipulate the vote.

The Catholic church's election observer mission said it had received 544 reports of malfunctioning voting machines.

It also reported 115 cases of election observers being kicked out of polling centres or not being allowed access, as well as 44 cases of vote-buying or corruption.

Nearly 50 polling stations in Kinshasa were idle for hours because lists of registered voters had not been delivered — the sprawling city is an opposition stronghold.

Another observer group, Symotel, reported a multitude of problems including the movement of polling stations to new locations at the last minute, which meant confused voters did not know where to go.

"We knew there would be issues, but this is way beyond what we expected," a spokesperson for the group Luc Lutala said.

Election day in the capital began with a heavy rainstorm that flooded some streets.

A number of Congolese remained in line at poll-closing time, and by law would be able to vote.

Although electoral officials had estimated that people could vote in under a minute, the process was taking several minutes or more per person.

At stake is a country rich in minerals including those crucial to the world's smartphones and electric cars, and yet Congo remains desperately underdeveloped with widespread corruption and insecurity.
Voters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo head to the polls to determine a successor to incumbent President Joseph Kabila. Elections are also held for the National Assembly and local councils.