DR Congo votes after 2-year delay

KINSHASA: Presidential elections that will shape the future of one of Africa´s biggest and most unstable countries were underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday after a two-year delay.

But observers reported worrying problems, from long queues to hitches with electronic voting machines whose introduction caused a storm.

The vote gives the DRC the chance of its first peaceful transfer of power since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960.

Analysts, though, say the threat of upheaval is great, given organisational problems and suspicion of President Joseph Kabila, who refused to quit in 2016 after his two-term limit expired.

The election's credibility has been strained by repeated delays, fears of problems on polling day and accusations that voting machines would help to rig the result.

On election eve, talks aimed at averting violence after the vote broke down.

Opposition frontrunners Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi refused to sign a proposed code of conduct with Kabila´s preferred successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary. They accused officials with the Independent National Election Commission (CENI) of thwarting changes to the text.