Congo-Brazzaville’s long-serving president Denis Sassou Nguesso has been declared the winner of the country’s March 15 presidential election with nearly 95 percent of the vote, according to the constitutional court.
Announcing the results late Saturday, the head of the court, Auguste Iloki, said the 82-year-old leader secured an overwhelming victory in the poll.
“Denis Sassou Nguesso won an absolute majority and is elected president with 94.9 percent of votes on a turnout of 65.9 percent,” Iloki said during a public hearing.
The result grants Sassou Nguesso a new five-year mandate to continue leading the oil-rich Central African nation, extending a rule that has spanned about four decades.
However, the election outcome has once again been contested by opposition figures. Dave Mafoula, one of six candidates who ran against the incumbent, formally asked the constitutional court to annul the election results, arguing that the process lacked fairness.
The court rejected the request and upheld the official outcome.
Sassou Nguesso first came to power in 1979 under a one-party system and governed until 1992, when he lost Congo-Brazzaville’s first multi-party election. He later returned to power in 1997 after overthrowing the elected president during a civil war.
Since 2002, he has been re-elected five times in elections that opposition groups claim were neither transparent nor democratic.
A former paratrooper colonel, Sassou Nguesso is among Africa’s longest-serving leaders, alongside Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Cameroon’s President Paul Biya.
Supporters credit him with bringing relative stability to Congo-Brazzaville, while human rights organisations have frequently accused his administration of suppressing political dissent and targeting opposition figures.
Two candidates who contested against him in the 2016 election are currently serving 20-year prison sentences after being convicted of posing a threat to internal security.
Under the country’s constitution, Sassou Nguesso will not be eligible to run again in 2031 when his latest term expires.
