Denis Sassou Nguesso won a fourth five-year term as president of the Republic of Congo after beating six other candidates in a March 21 election.
The incumbent President won re-election by a landslide, with 89% of the vote.
The outcome of the election was announced by the country’s interior minister.
The president won the majority votes while the main opposition candidate Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas – who died of Covid-19 complications on Sunday – garnered 8%.
The sudden death of Kolelas, 61, while en route to France for medical treatment, will further weaken the country’s opposition.
Kolelas was initially believed to have had malaria but tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday afternoon.
He was being flown to Paris for treatment but died aboard a medical plane just hours after polling closed.
While the election was largely peaceful, the outcome was tainted by allegations of fraud and low voter participation in some areas, according to the Justice and Peace Commission of the Episcopal Conference and advocacy group the Congolese Human Rights Organization.
President Sassou Nguesso, has ruled the country for 37 years.
He’s been in power since 1979, except for a five-year period after losing elections in 1992.
By Hussein Jama
March 24, 2021
