Congo's Presidential Election amidst Internet Blackout

Congo Republic faced an internet outage on election day as President Denis Sassou Nguesso sought to extend his rule. Opposition parties boycotted the vote, citing credibility concerns, while connectivity dropped to 3%. Voter turnout was expected to be lower than previous elections, affecting hopes for change.

On Sunday, the Congo Republic faced a widespread internet outage as citizens cast their votes in a presidential election expected to extend the decades-long rule of 82-year-old Denis Sassou Nguesso. The outage, reported by internet monitoring group NetBlocks, coincided with an election where major opposition leaders remained imprisoned or in exile, leading several parties to boycott the vote.

Approximately 3.2 million Congolese were registered to vote, though turnout was anticipated to fall below the nearly 68% recorded in previous elections, where Sassou won with 88.4% of the vote. The internet blackout was seen as a measure likely to limit transparency during the election, similar to an outage imposed during the 2021 presidential election.

Despite accusations of bias and a constrained political space, Sassou continued to campaign on maintaining continuity and pledged to accelerate development projects. Voter sentiment reflected skepticism, with many expressing little hope for change, even as provisional electoral results were expected within days of the polls closing.

(With inputs from agencies.)