By The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi has been sworn in for a second five-year term following highly contested elections in December.
“I am taking back the baton of command that you entrusted to me. We want a more united, stronger and prosperous Congo,” Tshisekedi, 60, said during the inauguration ceremony in the capital on Saturday.
“I am aware of your expectations,” he declared, referring among other things to unemployment, youth, women’s rights and national cohesion.
With tensions simmering in the vast nation’s volatile eastern provinces, the leader known as “Fatshi” picked Kinshasa’s 80,000-capacity Martyrs sports stadium for the inauguration ceremony.
The stands were packed well before midday with singing and dancing in full flow awaiting the arrival of several invited heads of African states and traditional chiefs from the country’s 26 provinces.
Tshisekedi was first sworn in as president in January 2019, after controversially defeating Joseph Kabila.
He won the first time promising to improve living conditions in the DRC – which boasts mineral riches but has a largely impoverished population of 100 million – and put an end to 25 years of bloodshed in the east.
The Congolese president has not kept those promises, but this time around, he campaigned strongly on his first-term achievements such as free primary medication, asking for another mandate to “consolidate” the progress.
