BRAZZAVILLE – After 36 years in power, Republic of Congo's President Denis Sassou N’Guesso appears poised to extend his tenure as one of Africa's longest-serving leaders in the elections to be held Sunday amid opposition complaints of interference with their campaigns.
The front-runner among the six remaining challengers is Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, who finished second during the last election in 2016 but lacks significant support outside the country's two largest cities.
Kolelas already has complained about being blocked from boarding a plane to make a campaign stop in the north. “Congo has become a police state," Kolelas said on the campaign trail. "I want to give back some fundamental freedoms to the Congolese people.