Presidential elections in Congo, pre-election campaign marked by violence and murders

(Patria) - With a two-year delay and after three postponements, presidential elections are being held in the Democratic Republic of Congo to elect the successor of President Joseph Kabila.

Polling stations opened at 6:00 AM local time (5:00 AM CET) in the east of the country, in the cities of Kisangani, Goma, and Lubumbashi, and an hour later in the west and in Kinshasa, the capital of this largest African country south of the Sahara, which has two time zones.

Forty million registered voters can vote until 5:00 PM (4:00 PM in the east and 5:00 PM in Kinshasa CET). Provisional results will be announced on January 6, followed by inevitable disputes at the Constitutional Court.

There are three main candidates for Kabila's successor as president of the DRC, a country characterized by a stark contrast between its mineral wealth and the poverty suffered by two-thirds of its population.

In order to continue ruling from the shadows, Kabila chose former Interior Minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary as his successor, who is under EU sanctions accusing him of human rights abuses.

Opposing candidates Felix Tshisekedi and Martin Fayulu come from a divided opposition.

Kabila, who has been in power since 2001, cannot run for a third term according to the constitution, which is a rarity in Central Africa. His second term expired back in 2016, and he has postponed elections three times since then.

The campaign was marked by violence, with about ten deaths, according to a human rights organization, which the authorities deny.