Republic Of Congo’s Constitutional Court Confirms Sassou’s Re-Election Victory

The Republic of Congo’s Constitutional court on Tuesday rejected the opposition’s appeal to annul the March presidential election’s result, reported Africa News. The court endorsed the re-election of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who reportedly won with 88.57% of the vote, according to the provisional results.

“On the final results of the election (…), the Constitutional Court has made the necessary rectifications and adjustments. The candidate Denis Sassou Nguesso, who won 88.40% of the presidential vote, has been declared elected,” said Auguste Iloki, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Congo.

He added that the appeals presented by Mathias Dzon, Jean-Jacques Serge Yhombi Opango, and Christian Mozoma for the annulment and postponement of the presidential election have been deemed inadmissible.

Last month, the opposition candidates had filed appeals against Mr. Nguesso’s landslide re-election in the first round of the presidential election.

Nguesso’s main opponent Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, who died from coronavirus on the day after the election during his medical transfer to France, secured 7.84% of the vote. He was followed by former Finance Minister Mathias Dzon who won 5% of the votes. The voter turnout was 67.55%.

Mr. Nguesso, 77, has spent a total of 36 years in power in the Republic of Congo. He first took the helm in 1979 after ousting Jacques Joachim Yhombi Opango and then again in 1997. After retaking power in 1997, following a brief civil war, he was elected in 2002 and then again in 2009, for his final seven-year term.

But in 2015, Nguesso introduced constitutional reforms that removed the 70-year age limit that would have barred him from contesting polls the following year. The referendum also removed the two seven-year term limit and introduced three five-year terms.

President Sassou Nguesso will be sworn in the coming days for a fourth five-year term.