As the Republic of Congo heads towards a presidential election on March 15, HRF condemns the announcement by dictator Denis Sassou-Nguesso — who has spent a total of four decades in power — that he will seek a fifth consecutive term.

Sassou-Nguesso announced his candidacy for reelection on Feb. 5 at a rally staged by the ruling Congolese Labour Party during a presidential visit to an agricultural fair in the southern district of Ignié.

With Sassou-Nguesso’s most serious political opponents, Jean‑Marie Michel Mokoko and André Okombi Salissa, serving heavy prison sentences on politically-motivated charges, the dictator is expected to turn the March 15 presidential polls into a coronation. Civil society has denounced an environment of repression and fear in the lead-up to the vote.

Sassou-Nguesso first seized power in 1979 as the military ruler of a one-party state until his defeat in the country’s first multiparty polls in 1992. He forced his way back into power through a bloody civil war in 1997. Since then, he has maintained power through rigged elections, constitutional manipulation, corruption, and repression.