<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/congo-heads-to-the-polls-for-tense-long-delayed-presidential-vote-187294">Voters in the Democratic Republic of Congo </a>went to the polls on Sunday in elections that will shape the future of their vast, troubled country, amid fears that violence could overshadow the ballot.

Millions of electors are choosing a successor to President Joseph Kabila, who is stepping down two years after his term limit expired — a delay that sparked bloody clashes and revived traumatic memories of past turmoil.

The vote gives DR Congo the chance of its first peaceful transfer of power since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960.

But analysts say the threat of violence is great, given the many organisational problems and wide-ranging suspicion of Kabila.

The election's credibility has already been strained by repeated delays, the risk of hitches on polling day and accusations that electronic voting machines will produce a rigged result.

On the eve of the vote, talks between key candidates to avert post-election violence broke down.

Opposition frontrunners Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi refused Saturday to sign a proposed peace pledge, saying election officials had failed to make suggested changes to the text.

The announcement came after the pair had met with the&nbsp; 
Independent National Election Commission (CENI) as well as Kabila's preferred successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary.

The UN, the United States and Europe have loudly appealed for the elections to be free, fair and peaceful — a call echoed on Wednesday by the presidents of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and the neighbouring Republic of Congo.

Polling stations opened in the east of the country a little after their scheduled time of 0400 GMT and an hour later in Kinshasa and the west.

Kabila voted in the capital along with his family, just minutes before Shadary also cast his ballot in the same polling station.

"I feel liberated, freed," said Victor Balibwa, a 53-year-old civil servant and one of the first voters to cast his ballot in Lubumbashi, the country's mining capital in the southeast.

"I'm excited to vote, to be able to choose at last. It's my first election," an 18-year-old student named Rachel told AFP in the eastern city of Goma, an opposition stronghold.

Some polling stations opened late in Goma and elsewhere.

In one, electoral officials were still adjusting voting machines and in another, a technician needed to restart a machine that had broken down, an AFP reporter saw.

The last polls are due to close at 1600 GMT. Provisional results are due on January 6.

Twenty-one candidates are contending the presidential election, which is taking place simultaneously with ballots for the national legislature and municipal bodies.

The frontrunners include Kabila's champion Shadary, a hardline former interior minister facing EU sanctions for a crackdown on protesters.

His biggest rivals are Fayulu, until recently a little-known legislator and former oil executive, and Tshisekedi, head of a veteran opposition party, the UDPS.

If the elections are "free and fair," an opposition candidate will almost certainly win, according to Jason Stearns of the Congo Research Group, based at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University.

Opinion polls indicate Fayulu is a clear favourite, garnering around 44 per cent of voting intentions, followed by 24 per cent for Tshisekedi and 18 per cent for Shadary, he said.

However, "the potential for violence is extremely high," Stearns warned.

Between 43 and 63 per cent of respondents said they would not accept the results if Shadary is declared the winner, he said.

And between 43 per cent and 53 per cent said they did not trust DRC's courts to settle any election dispute fairly. However, Kabila said he was confident "everything will go well on Sunday".

"I want to reassure our people that measures have been taken with the government to guarantee the safety of all sides, candidates, voters and observers alike," he said in his end-of-year address broadcast Saturday.

Eighty times the size of its former colonial master Belgium, the DRC covers 2.3 million square kilometres in the middle of Africa, behind only Algeria in the area on the continent.

Gold, uranium, copper, cobalt and other riches are extracted from its soil, but little of that wealth comes down to the poor.

In the last 22 years, the country has twice been a battleground for wars drawing in armies from around central and southern Africa.

The legacy of that era endures today in the DRC's eastern border region, where ruthless militias have carried out hundreds of killings.

Insecurity and an ongoing Ebola epidemic in part of North Kivu province, and communal violence in Yumbi, in the southwest of the country, prompted the authorities to postpone the elections there until March.

Kabila said the vote would take place "as soon as the situation allows it".

Around 1.25 million people, out of a national electoral roll of 40 million, are affected.

No explanation has been offered as to whether or how the delayed vote will affect the official outcome, and legal experts say the postponement is unconstitutional.&nbsp;

Voters in the Democratic Republic of Congo went to the polls on Sunday in elections that will shape the future of their vast, troubled country, amid fears that violence could overshadow the ballot.

Voters in the Democratic Republic of Congo went to the polls on Sunday in elections that will shape the future of their vast, troubled country, amid fears that violence could overshadow the ballot. Millions of electors are choosing a successor to President Joseph Kabila, who is stepping down two years after his term limit expired — a delay that sparked bloody clashes and revived traumatic memories of past turmoil. The vote gives DR Congo the chance of its first peaceful transfer of power since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960. But analysts say the threat of violence is great, given the many organisational problems and wide-ranging suspicion of Kabila. The election's credibility has already been strained by repeated delays, the risk of hitches on polling day and accusations that electronic voting machines will produce a rigged result. On the eve of the vote, talks between key candidates to avert post-election violence broke down. Opposition frontrunners Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi refused Saturday to sign a proposed peace pledge, saying election officials had failed to make suggested changes to the text. The announcement came after the pair had met with the Independent National Election Commission (CENI) as well as Kabila's preferred successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary. The UN, the United States and Europe have loudly appealed for the elections to be free, fair and peaceful — a call echoed on Wednesday by the presidents of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and the neighbouring Republic of Congo. Polling stations opened in the east of the country a little after their scheduled time of 0400 GMT and an hour later in Kinshasa and the west. Kabila voted in the capital along with his family, just minutes before Shadary also cast his ballot in the same polling station. "I feel liberated, freed," said Victor Balibwa, a 53-year-old civil servant and one of the first voters to cast his ballot in Lubumbashi, the country's mining capital in the southeast. "I'm excited to vote, to be able to choose at last. It's my first election," an 18-year-old student named Rachel told AFP in the eastern city of Goma, an opposition stronghold. Some polling stations opened late in Goma and elsewhere. In one, electoral officials were still adjusting voting machines and in another, a technician needed to restart a machine that had broken down, an AFP reporter saw. The last polls are due to close at 1600 GMT. Provisional results are due on January 6. Twenty-one candidates are contending the presidential election, which is taking place simultaneously with ballots for the national legislature and municipal bodies. The frontrunners include Kabila's champion Shadary, a hardline former interior minister facing EU sanctions for a crackdown on protesters. His biggest rivals are Fayulu, until recently a little-known legislator and former oil executive, and Tshisekedi, head of a veteran opposition party, the UDPS. If the elections are "free and fair," an opposition candidate will almost certainly win, according to Jason Stearns of the Congo Research Group, based at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University. Opinion polls indicate Fayulu is a clear favourite, garnering around 44 per cent of voting intentions, followed by 24 per cent for Tshisekedi and 18 per cent for Shadary, he said. However, "the potential for violence is extremely high," Stearns warned. Between 43 and 63 per cent of respondents said they would not accept the results if Shadary is declared the winner, he said. And between 43 per cent and 53 per cent said they did not trust DRC's courts to settle any election dispute fairly. However, Kabila said he was confident "everything will go well on Sunday". "I want to reassure our people that measures have been taken with the government to guarantee the safety of all sides, candidates, voters and observers alike," he said in his end-of-year address broadcast Saturday. Eighty times the size of its former colonial master Belgium, the DRC covers 2.3 million square kilometres in the middle of Africa, behind only Algeria in the area on the continent. Gold, uranium, copper, cobalt and other riches are extracted from its soil, but little of that wealth comes down to the poor. In the last 22 years, the country has twice been a battleground for wars drawing in armies from around central and southern Africa. The legacy of that era endures today in the DRC's eastern border region, where ruthless militias have carried out hundreds of killings. Insecurity and an ongoing Ebola epidemic in part of North Kivu province, and communal violence in Yumbi, in the southwest of the country, prompted the authorities to postpone the elections there until March. Kabila said the vote would take place "as soon as the situation allows it". Around 1.25 million people, out of a national electoral roll of 40 million, are affected. No explanation has been offered as to whether or how the delayed vote will affect the official outcome, and legal experts say the postponement is unconstitutional.

DR Congo goes to polls after troubled odyssey

The World Health Organization chief warned Friday that growing unrest in the eastern <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/dr-congo-giant-weakened-by-violence-and-poverty-187058">Democratic Republic of Congo </a>was disrupting efforts to rein in an Ebola outbreak, threatening gains made in fighting the deadly virus.

The security situation in the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/death-toll-tops-200-in-dr-congo-ebola-outbreak-176592">Ebola-hit Beni and Butembo areas </a>has deteriorated since Thursday morning as protests erupted against further delays to DRC's election. This has complicated efforts to provide vaccinations and track down people who may have been infected, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

Some 20 people suspected of having contracted Ebola fled a transit centre where they were being monitored in the Beni region, the epicentre of this latest outbreak of the highly infectious and potentially fatal disease, according to the country's health ministry.

The incident followed the announcement that elections planned for Sunday in the region had once again been postponed because of local unrest, as well as the Ebola outbreak.

Tedros said that the UN agency and its partners were continuing to respond to the Ebola outbreak in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

But "yesterday our teams in Beni were unable to carry out critical field work, including vaccinations, contact tracing, and following up on alerts of potential new cases," he said.

And in Butembo, "some alerts of potential cases were investigated and confirmed cases were referred to treatment centres but teams were unable to trace contacts or to conduct vaccinations."

'Tragedy'&nbsp;

Tedros stressed that response activities had not been interrupted in other affected areas.

He pointed out that after an intensification of field activities, "we were seeing hopeful signs in many areas, including a recent decrease in cases in Beni."

But he warned that "these gains could be lost if we suffer a period of prolonged insecurity, resulting in increased transmission."

"That would be a tragedy for the local population, who have already suffered too much," Tedros said.

He said the WHO teams in Beni and Butembo were doing "everything possible" to continue responding to the outbreak, and that WHO hoped to "return to full operations as soon as possible while remaining committed to ensuring the safety of all staff deployed.

He asked everyone to "protect health facilities and provide access for responders to the affected populations so that we can stop this outbreak."

"We cannot afford to take a step back at this critical point in the response," he said.

Kigali declared the Ebola epidemic last August, and it has already claimed 357 lives.&nbsp;

There is great concern that the disease could spread to other major towns in the region, such as Goma and Kisangani and even neighbouring Uganda.

On Wednesday, the country's electoral commission cited the unrest in the region and the Ebola outbreak as the reasons it was further postponing national elections there.

However, the vote will continue to take place in the rest of the country as scheduled on December 30, and the next president will be sworn in on January 18, the commission said.

The World Health Organization chief warned Friday that growing unrest in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo was disrupting efforts to rein in an Ebola outbreak, threatening gains made in fighting the deadly virus.

The World Health Organization chief warned Friday that growing unrest in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo was disrupting efforts to rein in an Ebola outbreak, threatening gains made in fighting the deadly virus. The security situation in the Ebola-hit Beni and Butembo areas has deteriorated since Thursday morning as protests erupted against further delays to DRC's election. This has complicated efforts to provide vaccinations and track down people who may have been infected, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. Some 20 people suspected of having contracted Ebola fled a transit centre where they were being monitored in the Beni region, the epicentre of this latest outbreak of the highly infectious and potentially fatal disease, according to the country's health ministry. The incident followed the announcement that elections planned for Sunday in the region had once again been postponed because of local unrest, as well as the Ebola outbreak. Tedros said that the UN agency and its partners were continuing to respond to the Ebola outbreak in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces. But "yesterday our teams in Beni were unable to carry out critical field work, including vaccinations, contact tracing, and following up on alerts of potential new cases," he said. And in Butembo, "some alerts of potential cases were investigated and confirmed cases were referred to treatment centres but teams were unable to trace contacts or to conduct vaccinations." 'Tragedy' Tedros stressed that response activities had not been interrupted in other affected areas. He pointed out that after an intensification of field activities, "we were seeing hopeful signs in many areas, including a recent decrease in cases in Beni." But he warned that "these gains could be lost if we suffer a period of prolonged insecurity, resulting in increased transmission." "That would be a tragedy for the local population, who have already suffered too much," Tedros said. He said the WHO teams in Beni and Butembo were doing "everything possible" to continue responding to the outbreak, and that WHO hoped to "return to full operations as soon as possible while remaining committed to ensuring the safety of all staff deployed. He asked everyone to "protect health facilities and provide access for responders to the affected populations so that we can stop this outbreak." "We cannot afford to take a step back at this critical point in the response," he said. Kigali declared the Ebola epidemic last August, and it has already claimed 357 lives. There is great concern that the disease could spread to other major towns in the region, such as Goma and Kisangani and even neighbouring Uganda. On Wednesday, the country's electoral commission cited the unrest in the region and the Ebola outbreak as the reasons it was further postponing national elections there. However, the vote will continue to take place in the rest of the country as scheduled on December 30, and the next president will be sworn in on January 18, the commission said.

WHO chief warns DR Congo unrest threatening gains in Ebola fight

From the countries who share the Democratic Republic of Congo's vast border — some of which stirred its devastating conflicts — to international powers invested in peace efforts, the impact of upcoming elections looks set to reverberate far and wide.

Here are some of the implications of the DR Congo's crucial December 23 vote to replace President Joseph Kabila, for nations in the intertwined region and the international community working in the resource-rich country.

Ashes from a regional fire

It has been over a decade since Kinshasa's neighbours fought Africa's "Great War" on its soil, but from across its borders they still jealously guard their interests in the troubled nation.&nbsp;

The current regime in the DRC is the direct result of its neighbours' interventions in two conflicts between 1996 and 2003 that drew in troops from up to seven African countries and left millions dead.

The regional fire was lit by the 1994 Rwandan genocide, as some two million mostly Hutu refugees including those who led the massacres, flooded into eastern Congo.&nbsp;

Rebels used their camps as a new base from which to stage attacks in Rwanda, prompting Kigali to invade the DRC.&nbsp;

Rwanda also, with the help of Uganda, backed a Congolese rebellion which led to the overthrow of strongman Mobutu Sese Seko and saw Laurent-Desire Kabila become president in 1997.

Barely a year later a second conflict began.

Kabila turned his back on his Rwandan and Ugandan allies who then invaded the country again and fought Congolese troops backed by troops from Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Chad. Burundi also carried out limited operations, while Libya and Sudan offered support to Kinshasa.&nbsp;

Kabila was assassinated in 2001 and his son Joseph Kabila became president.

In the years since, the DRC has maintained complex ties with its neighbours, marked by mistrust and the plundering of its considerable natural resources.

"The development of mineral riches, controlled by powerful Congolese, Rwandan and Ugandan interests, is growing and thriving" in the restive east of the country, said Andre Guichaoua, a professor at the Paris-Sorbonne University.

'Co-managed destabilisation'

While the resource extraction continues, those involved have increasingly begun to work side by side.

"Over the course of time, in the eastern Congo, the different networks plundering resources who were rivals, realised that they could all get along without fighting to the death," said Thierry Vircoulon, a researcher at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).

He said the disappearance of clearly "Rwanda-backed" rebel groups believed to have been deployed to protect these mineral interests — such as CNDP in the 2000s or M23 in the early 2010s — is evidence of this cohabitation.

Guichaoua described the situation in the east as a "co-managed destabilisation".

Gold, diamonds and oil

In its June 2018 report, the UN Security Council's group of experts on the DRC said that "a large part of the gold sold by Uganda and Rwanda was illegally extracted from neighbouring countries, including the DRC".

In Angola, the government of President Joao Lourenco has pushed for the holding of elections, and for Kabila not to be a candidate.

Luanda is keen to protect its offshore oil interests — which Kinshasa argues are in its waters — and resume control of diamond mining in the north.

Some 400,000 Congolese miners were recently expelled or fled Angola after a massive operation against diamond smuggling.

Firming friendships

Further to the south, Burundi and Tanzania have better relations with Kinshasa, based on similar ideological views and other common interests.

Kinshasa and Bujumbura signed a cooperation deal to fight the Burundian opposition which sought refuge in South-Kivu after a political crisis broke out in the country in 2015.

And in Tanzania, where the Kabila clan lived in exile before taking power and still has financial interests, President John Magufuli's African nationalist views echo those of his counterpart in Kinshasa.

International community snubbed

The United Nations has been present in DRC for 20 years, and its MONUSCO peacekeeping force is one of the biggest in the world.

However in the name of "national sovereignty," Kinshasa has refused any logistical or financial assistance from the international community, as well as the presence of any western observers.

Kinshasa has even refused the assistance of MONUSCO aviation in transporting electoral material across the country of 2.3 million square kilometres (890,000 square miles), which has only 3,400 kilometres of paved roads.

"We are not a country of beggars," said President Joseph Kabila.

Only 200 African observers are being allowed to observe voting in 80,000 polling stations available to the 40 million registered voters.

From the countries who share the Democratic Republic of Congo's vast border — some of which stirred its devastating conflicts — to international powers invested in peace efforts, the impact of upcoming elections looks set to reverberate far and wide.

From the countries who share the Democratic Republic of Congo's vast border — some of which stirred its devastating conflicts — to international powers invested in peace efforts, the impact of upcoming elections looks set to reverberate far and wide. Here are some of the implications of the DR Congo's crucial December 23 vote to replace President Joseph Kabila, for nations in the intertwined region and the international community working in the resource-rich country. Ashes from a regional fire It has been over a decade since Kinshasa's neighbours fought Africa's "Great War" on its soil, but from across its borders they still jealously guard their interests in the troubled nation. The current regime in the DRC is the direct result of its neighbours' interventions in two conflicts between 1996 and 2003 that drew in troops from up to seven African countries and left millions dead. The regional fire was lit by the 1994 Rwandan genocide, as some two million mostly Hutu refugees including those who led the massacres, flooded into eastern Congo. Rebels used their camps as a new base from which to stage attacks in Rwanda, prompting Kigali to invade the DRC. Rwanda also, with the help of Uganda, backed a Congolese rebellion which led to the overthrow of strongman Mobutu Sese Seko and saw Laurent-Desire Kabila become president in 1997. Barely a year later a second conflict began. Kabila turned his back on his Rwandan and Ugandan allies who then invaded the country again and fought Congolese troops backed by troops from Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Chad. Burundi also carried out limited operations, while Libya and Sudan offered support to Kinshasa. Kabila was assassinated in 2001 and his son Joseph Kabila became president. In the years since, the DRC has maintained complex ties with its neighbours, marked by mistrust and the plundering of its considerable natural resources. "The development of mineral riches, controlled by powerful Congolese, Rwandan and Ugandan interests, is growing and thriving" in the restive east of the country, said Andre Guichaoua, a professor at the Paris-Sorbonne University. 'Co-managed destabilisation' While the resource extraction continues, those involved have increasingly begun to work side by side. "Over the course of time, in the eastern Congo, the different networks plundering resources who were rivals, realised that they could all get along without fighting to the death," said Thierry Vircoulon, a researcher at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). He said the disappearance of clearly "Rwanda-backed" rebel groups believed to have been deployed to protect these mineral interests — such as CNDP in the 2000s or M23 in the early 2010s — is evidence of this cohabitation. Guichaoua described the situation in the east as a "co-managed destabilisation". Gold, diamonds and oil In its June 2018 report, the UN Security Council's group of experts on the DRC said that "a large part of the gold sold by Uganda and Rwanda was illegally extracted from neighbouring countries, including the DRC". In Angola, the government of President Joao Lourenco has pushed for the holding of elections, and for Kabila not to be a candidate. Luanda is keen to protect its offshore oil interests — which Kinshasa argues are in its waters — and resume control of diamond mining in the north. Some 400,000 Congolese miners were recently expelled or fled Angola after a massive operation against diamond smuggling. Firming friendships Further to the south, Burundi and Tanzania have better relations with Kinshasa, based on similar ideological views and other common interests. Kinshasa and Bujumbura signed a cooperation deal to fight the Burundian opposition which sought refuge in South-Kivu after a political crisis broke out in the country in 2015. And in Tanzania, where the Kabila clan lived in exile before taking power and still has financial interests, President John Magufuli's African nationalist views echo those of his counterpart in Kinshasa. International community snubbed The United Nations has been present in DRC for 20 years, and its MONUSCO peacekeeping force is one of the biggest in the world. However in the name of "national sovereignty," Kinshasa has refused any logistical or financial assistance from the international community, as well as the presence of any western observers. Kinshasa has even refused the assistance of MONUSCO aviation in transporting electoral material across the country of 2.3 million square kilometres (890,000 square miles), which has only 3,400 kilometres of paved roads. "We are not a country of beggars," said President Joseph Kabila. Only 200 African observers are being allowed to observe voting in 80,000 polling stations available to the 40 million registered voters.

High stakes for friends and foes as DRC heads to polls

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DR Congo goes to polls after troubled odyssey

WHO chief warns DR Congo unrest threatening gains in Ebola fight

High stakes for friends and foes as DRC heads to polls