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Vote counting is underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo after Wednesday's presidential and parliamentary elections, which have been extended into Thursday. Incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi is vying for a second term amid a backdrop of instability and conflict, particularly in the eastern provinces.
Tshisekedi, first elected in 2019, faces stiff competition from a range of political opponents, including businessman Moise Katumbi, Nobel laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege, and opposition leader Martin Fayulu, along with 26 other registered candidates.
Anticipating the outcome, Congolese citizens shared expectations for their future.
Alice Kilaneko, a street food vendor in Kinshasa, told VOA's French to Africa Service that she expects the next president to focus on "schools, health care, salaries of civil servants and the police." She hopes to see decreased unemployment rates so that she and fellow citizens can live "a good life" and children can "study at ease."
Fabien Mufabule, a barber and a businessman originally from Kindu, capital of eastern Maniema province, said what the country needs is a semblance of normalcy. He expects the next leader "to stabilize our country in terms of security, politics, and the economy, too."
But the elections are unfolding amid a humanitarian crisis. Escalating violence in parts of the country has driven the number of internally displaced persons to nearly 7 million, according to the International Organization for Migration.
A Gallup survey conducted this year found that millions are struggling to afford basic necessities and widespread health issues are prevalent; almost 78% struggle to afford food while 59% battle to secure shelter. The figures are worse than in most other sub-Saharan African countries, signaling a deepening crisis, Gallup reported.
Esperance Mahoro, whose entire family has been displaced due to conflict, told VOA that peace is urgently needed.
"That's what we need because here we're suffering terribly," said Mahoro, who worked as a tailor before being forced to leave her North Kivu province village in the country's east. She now lives in a camp with her child and her husband, facing daily difficulties.
"There is lack of food. We can't find it on time. We are given a small amount for three people and the food can't even last a week," she said. "Sometimes we try to figure out what to do for work, but we can't find any. If peace were to return, my life would undoubtedly change. Because I could go back to our village and do my job well."
Compounding the issue, some 48% of the population suffers from a lack of access to health care, preventing them from carrying out normal activities for their age, according to Gallup. With 0.4 doctors per 1,000 people, the strained health care system is grappling to meet the overwhelming demand, the report said.
Fabien Kashama, one of the medical doctors providing care in the country, hopes for changes in the political class and peace in eastern regions after 20 years of suffering.
"A Congo under the direction of a president who responds to the needs of the population will be a better Congo, a united Congo, a prosperous Congo, a Congo that will be envied by the world because we are blessed," he said.
Others, like student Joyce Tshituala, are focused on security and education.
"One of the things I expect from the future president of the Democratic Republic of Congo is the strengthening of much more security," she said. "I would like the daily life of the Congolese to become less stressful."
Israel Bucunde Asende, a teacher originally from the province of South Kivu, said he expects the next leader to prioritize economic stability and investment in education.
"First of all, stability of the exchange rate, stabilizing the national currency," he said. "The second thing is to invest in education by paying teachers very well, because teachers have a pittance salary."
Gallup analyst Benedict Vigers, who authored the report based on this year's survey, said DRC struggles to meet the needs of its people despite a wealth of natural resources.
The country "is indeed rich in natural resources, but ... it hasn't been able to translate this wealth of natural resources into wealth for its people, who have cited many possible reasons for it," he said. "One of them is conflict, which is obviously right in the eastern part of the country. Corruption is another, and our data, as well this year, shows that 77% of people in DRC feel that corruption is widespread in the government."
Vigers told VOA English to Africa Service's Daybreak Africa radio program that more than half of Congolese adults, 55%, reported feeling unsafe walking alone in their communities at night, underlining the broader impact of armed conflicts on citizens' everyday lives, a trend persisting since 2009.
He added that researchers had to exclude certain parts of the country from the survey sample, where there has been intense fighting with rebels.
"It's worth bearing in mind that this figure of 55% of Congolese adults feeling unsafe doesn't even account for parts of the country that we couldn't survey due to insecurity," he said.
Insecurity also blocked Gallup's ability to survey 19% of the population in 2023, mainly in the eastern regions, where most of some 100 armed groups that populate DRC are active.
Although Tshisekedi's administration declared martial law, which substituted military authority over civilian rule in 2021 in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, conflict between M23 rebels, a Congolese pro-Tutsi militia, and government militias has intensified, leading to significant internal displacement.
French to Africa Service's Arzouma Kompaore, Anasthasie Tudieshe, Byobe Malenga, Zaem Neti Zaidi and English to Africa Service's James Butty contributed to the report.