Al Jazeera News, Kinshasa :
Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission (CENI) postponed Sunday’s presidential and parliamentary vote in three cities in the vast country, citing concerns over Ebola and violence.
CENI said in a statement on Wednesday that election in the eastern cities of Beni and Butembo in North Kivu province and the western city of Yumbi – in Bandundu province – will take in March next year.
Voting will take place in the rest of the country, the statement added.
There is an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the eastern part of the country with calls for the vote to be postponed. More than 320 people have so far been killed in the outbreak – the second worst in history.
The latest outbreak started in May 2018.
Meanwhile, ethnic violence in the western part of the country left at least 100 people dead last week.
The electoral commission said official results of the presidential poll will be announced on January 15.
The announcement about the postponement comes four days after CENI told Al Jazeera that polls would take place in the ebola-hit parts
of the country. Since November 28, there have been more than 500 confirmed cases of the deadly virus in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
More than 46 million Congolese have registered to take part in the poll that has been repeatedly delayed.
Elections were first scheduled to be held in 2016. It was then postponed to December 23 before CENI said it will be held on December 30.
Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission (CENI) postponed Sunday’s presidential and parliamentary vote in three cities in the vast country, citing concerns over Ebola and violence.
CENI said in a statement on Wednesday that election in the eastern cities of Beni and Butembo in North Kivu province and the western city of Yumbi – in Bandundu province – will take in March next year.
Voting will take place in the rest of the country, the statement added.
There is an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the eastern part of the country with calls for the vote to be postponed. More than 320 people have so far been killed in the outbreak – the second worst in history.
The latest outbreak started in May 2018.
Meanwhile, ethnic violence in the western part of the country left at least 100 people dead last week.
The electoral commission said official results of the presidential poll will be announced on January 15.
The announcement about the postponement comes four days after CENI told Al Jazeera that polls would take place in the ebola-hit parts
of the country. Since November 28, there have been more than 500 confirmed cases of the deadly virus in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
More than 46 million Congolese have registered to take part in the poll that has been repeatedly delayed.
Elections were first scheduled to be held in 2016. It was then postponed to December 23 before CENI said it will be held on December 30.
