- DRC goes to the Polls on Wednesday, 20 December 2023
The Poll has attracted 25 presidential candidates, including the outgoing president.
At the same time the country is holding legislative, provincial and municipal elections.
Here are the top three candidates;
1. Felix Tshisekedi
Félix Tshisekedi, 60, became president five years ago after a controversial election that another opponent, Martin Fayulu, claims he won. He is the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), which was also the party of his father, the historic opponent Etienne Tshisekedi, who died in 2017.
2. Moses Katumbi
Moïse Katumbi, 58, is a wealthy businessman, boss of the renowned Lubumbashi (south-east) football club Tout Puissant Mazembe and former governor (2007-2015) of the mining province of Katanga, the economic heart of the country, where he was born. His father was Italian, which made him a prime target for the heralds of “Congolity” , whose leader also tried to have his candidacy invalidated.
Leader of the “Together for the Republic” party, he highlights his business successes and his record in Katanga, with construction of roads, schools and development of agriculture, to assert that he will know how to manage the country.
3. Martin Fayulu
Martin Fayulu, 66 years old (67 on November 21), is the leader of the Ecidé party (Commitment to Citizenship and Development). This former executive of an oil major wants his revenge. For five years, his supporters have referred to him as “the president-elect” , since according to them the victory was stolen from him in the 2018 election.
Once again affirming his conviction that the dice will be loaded for that of next December, he for a time maintained the suspense over his candidacy, which he finally confirmed on September 30.
3. Denis Mukwege
Denis Mukwege , 68, gynecologist, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2018 for his work with raped women, is a long-time critic of power and continues to demand justice for the victims of armed violence in his country.
“The man who repairs women”, a nickname inherited from a documentary dedicated to him, has no political basis and was slow to launch. He finally announced on October 2 that he would be a candidate, denouncing “the corrupt and predatory practices” which keep the majority of Congolese in poverty. Son of a Pentecostal pastor, he is originally from South Kivu (east), where he runs a hospital.