Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila is close to winning the election run-off, with 90 per cent of the votes counted, results show according to BBC Online Monday.
Mr Kabila has gained 60 per cent, while former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba has achieved 40 per cent, according to results on the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) website. The actual election took place on Sunday October 29th.
The CEI is not declaring a winner until it investigates allegations of fraud by Mr Bemba and his supporters, who have now submitted five official complaints.
UN observers say the election is the most significant in Africa since Nelson Mandela was elected as South Africas president in 1994. They are seen as the huge countrys first free elections since independence in 1960. Turnout was 66 per cent, according to the CEI.
Both men have pledged to respect the outcome of the election.
The first round of elections showed a regional divide, with Mr Kabila gaining a landslide in the Swahili-speaking east, while Mr Bemba got most support in the west, where Lingala is the common language.
The worlds largest peacekeeping force – 17.000-strong – is in DR Congo, tasked with ensuring security.
At least 23 people were killed in gun battles between security forces loyal to the two men in the capital, Kinshasa, after the announcement of first round results in August. Here Mr Kabila won 45 per cent of the vote, while Mr Bemba got 20 per cent. The round took place Sunday July 30th.
DR Congo is two-thirds the size of western Europe and has just 500 km of paved roads.
The countrys eastern part boasts huge reserves of gold, some 30 per cent of the worlds diamond reserves, more than 70 per cent of the valuable coltan mineral – a vital ingredient in mobile phones – and vast deposits of cobalt, copper and bauxite.
But these huge riches have only attracted a series of looters – from Belgiums King Leopold, who declared the country his personal possession at the end of the 19th century, to long-time leader, Mobutu Sese Seko, – one of the biggest cleptocrats the world has ever seen – and then a host of militias and armies from up to nine other African countries during the recent devastating war, BBC notes.
