Congo’s presidential candidates kick off campaigning a month before election

By JEAN-YVES KAMALE and JUSTIN KABUMBA
Associated Press

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and a politician hoping to unseat him next month have launched their campaigns as the incumbent leader contends with ongoing violence in eastern Congo. Opposition party representatives who met in South Africa failed to unite behind a single challenger to Tshisekedi for the country’s Dec. 20 presidential election. The candidates represented at the talks included Martin Fayulu, a former oil executive who lost to Thisekedi five years ago; businessman Moise Katumbi; Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege; former Prime Minister Matata Ponyo; and Kassai legislator Delly Sesanga. In a speech to supporters at Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa on Sunday, the incumbent president accused Rwanda’s President Paul Kageme of destabilizing Congo.