Brazzaville, Republic of Congo — President Denis Sassou Nguesso has secured a fifth consecutive term, extending his nearly 42 years in power, according to provisional election results.
Interior Minister Raymond Zephirin Mboulou announced on state television Tuesday that Sassou Nguesso, 82, received 94.82 percent of Sunday’s vote. State media reported voter turnout at 84.65 percent, though many polling stations in the capital had short lines or were nearly empty.
Sassou Nguesso faced six little-known challengers. His closest rival, Mabio Mavoungou Zinga of the Alliance party, obtained 1.48 percent, followed by independent candidate Uphrem Dave Mafoula with 1.03 percent. The other four candidates each received less than 1 percent. 
Two major opposition parties boycotted the vote, citing unfair electoral practices. General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko and Andre Okombi Salissa, prominent opposition figures, remain imprisoned for nearly a decade.
Clarisse Massamba, a teacher who voted at Lyce Javoueh in Brazzaville, told The Associated Press: “Everyone knows that, faced with his six inexperienced opponents, President Denis Sassou Nguesso will be re-elected with a high score as usual. Since the election is not a big issue, we shouldn’t cut off communication.”
The electoral process faced multiple disruptions, including late openings at some polling stations and a nationwide internet shutdown. Bertrand Menier, spokesperson for the citizen observation mission of CAPGED, called it “a Nintendo election” and said, “the results do not reflect reality.”
Academic Etanislas Ngodi described Sassou Nguesso’s performance as “a Soviet-style result,” noting the president “controls the institutions, security apparatus and administrative apparatus.”
Sassou N’Guesso first took power in 1979 as a former paratrooper, lost Congo’s first multi-party elections in 1992, and returned to power in 1997 after a civil war. A 2015 constitutional change removed term limits and the presidential age cap, allowing him to run for three additional five-year terms. This latest term is expected to be his last.
Congo-Brazzaville relies heavily on oil revenues, but over half the population lives in poverty, lacking access to electricity, running water, and basic healthcare. Persistent allegations of corruption have drawn investigations from French and US prosecutors into assets held abroad by Sassou Nguesso’s family.
Human rights activists report arrests ahead of the election, opposition party suspensions, and close monitoring of public gatherings. Sassou N’Guesso is now the third-longest-serving African president, behind Cameroon’s Paul Biya and Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
