The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s complicated and long-delayed elections ended with a surprise twist. Right now, it appears that Tshisekedi owes his victory to Kabila and the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy. That loss of connective tissue to the citizens of the country distorts accountability in ways unlikely to deliver the relief from predatory governance that the Congolese people crave.

Major powers are ever-more aware of Congo’s importance as they jockey for access to Congolese minerals vital to a clean energy transition and wake up to the global importance of Congo’s carbon sinks. But the will of the Congolese people—and their ability to determine the course of their country—remains stifled.

A long-awaited election in the Democratic Republic of Congo offers hope for the country’s first democratic transition, but a contested result could incite turmoil.

After keeping his own citizens and the international community in suspense for over two years past the end of his mandate in 2016, President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo anno…

A looming crisis of succession in several African countries indicates a troubling persistence of ego-driven political paternalism.