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Congo-Brazaville’s constitutional court has confirmed that the country’s 82-year-old President Denis Sassou Nguesso secured 95% of the vote in an election that extended his rule.
“Denis Sassou Nguesso won an absolute majority and is elected president with 94.9% of votes on a turnout of 65.9%,” the head of the court, Auguste Iloki, told a public hearing.
Sassou Nguesso is one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, along with Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Cameroon’s President Paul Biya. He has been re-elected five times in votes that the opposition has said were neither transparent nor democratic since 2002.
The country’s opposition has challenged every election won by the 82-year-old president.
Dave Mafoula, one of Sassou Nguesso’s opponents during the election, asked the court to declare the election null and void, but the court rejected his demand. Two of his opponents from the 2016 election are serving 20-year jail terms for being a threat to the country’s national security.
The constitution forbids Sassou Nguesso from standing again in 2031, once his fifth term ends.
