Congo: Top Court Confirms Re-Election Of Sassou-Nguesso

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Congo has confirmed the re-election of the country's President Denis Sassou-Nguesso.

"The Constitutional Court made the necessary rectifications and adjustments. The candidate Denis Sassou-Nguesso is declared elected" with 88.40% of the vote, Auguste Iloki, the head of the court said on Tuesday.

He added that the appeals filed by opposition members Mathias Dzon, Jean-Jacques Serge Yhombi Opango and Christian Mozoma are deemed "inadmissible" and "unfounded".

The voter turnout was 67.55% out of some 2.5 million eligible voters.

The African Union Election Observation Mission dispatched to the Republic of Congo had noted a number of irregularities in the electoral process.

The March 21 poll process was marked by the death of his main opponent Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas. He died of COVID-19 on board a medical aircraft just after landing at a Paris airport a day after the poll.

Sassou-Nguesso, 77, who led the Republic of the Congo from 1979 to 1992, returned to power in 1997. He won the presidential elections in 2002, 2009, and 2016.

He will take oath in the coming days for a fourth five-year term.

With a population of over 5.2 million, the central African country ranks among the top 10 oil producers in Africa and has substantial mineral resources, the majority of which are yet untapped, according to the World Bank.

*Rodrigue Forku contributed to this story -