Congo Republic’s Constitutional Court has confirmed President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s re-election victory, handing the 82-year-old leader a new five-year term and extending one of the longest rules by any sitting African head of state. The court said late Saturday that Sassou Nguesso won 94.9% of the vote in the March 15 presidential election, with turnout put at 65.9%.
The ruling cements Sassou Nguesso’s grip on power in the oil-producing Central African nation, which he has governed for all but five years since first taking office in 1979. He initially ruled under a one-party system from 1979 to 1992, lost the country’s first multi-party election, then returned to power in 1997 after a civil war. Since 2002, he has repeatedly won re-election, with opposition groups and rights advocates regularly questioning the credibility and openness of the electoral process.
Delivering the court’s ruling at a public hearing, Constitutional Court president Auguste Iloki said Sassou Nguesso had won an absolute majority. The court also rejected a petition by opposition candidate Dave Mafoula, who had asked for the election to be declared null and void. Two major opposition parties boycotted the vote altogether, arguing that the process was unfair and tilted heavily in favour of the incumbent.
The election campaign unfolded in an atmosphere critics described as tightly controlled. Reuters reported that several prominent opposition figures were in prison or exile, while activists were arrested and public gatherings restricted during the campaign. On voting day, there were also reports of low activity at some polling stations in Brazzaville despite official turnout figures, further fuelling scepticism among critics who said the outcome looked pre-determined.
Sassou Nguesso, a former paratrooper colonel, remains a dominant figure in Congolese politics and is often grouped with Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Cameroon’s Paul Biya among Africa’s longest-serving leaders. Supporters credit him with preserving stability in a country scarred by conflict, but rights groups and government critics accuse his administration of repressing dissent and narrowing political space.
His latest term is widely expected to be his last under the current constitutional framework. Reuters reported that the 2015 constitutional amendment allowed him to run again, but the three-term cap under that revised system means the new mandate is expected to end his eligibility in 2031 unless the law changes again.
