Denis Mukwege

Nobel Peace Prize winner, Denis Mukwege has warned that the forthcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo could lead to conflict if they were not conducted in a free, fair and peaceful manner.

The elections, which will be held on December 23 will mark DR Congo’s first democratic transfer of power and end President Joseph Kabila’s rule which began in 2001 after the assassination of his father.

Mukwege, who jointly received the 2018 prize in Oslo alongside Nadia Murad for his work as a doctor who helps victims of sexual violence in the eastern Congo city of Bukavu said he was not reassured over what he saw in his country.

“What I have seen as I was leaving my country did not reassure me,” Mukwege told reporters hours before receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

“There is very little electoral preparation and a lot of military preparation. I am very worried that these elections will not be free, fair, credible and peaceful and that if there are massive frauds, supporters will not accept them.

“These elements suggest to me that oppression is being prepared, at the very minimum and it could be that a war against its own people is being prepared,” he added.

Kabila was due to step down in 2016 at the end of his constitutional mandate but the election to find his successor was repeatedly delayed without cogent reasons, igniting protests during which dozens were killed.