News Story

Thousands of supporters dressed in presidential colours lined a street in Congo-Brazzaville's capital on Friday for Denis Sassou Nguesso's final campaign rally ahead of a presidential election expected to extend his more than four-decade rule.

In the intense heat, the 82-year-old strongman, dressed in a white shirt decorated with his own portrait, vowed to "clean up public life" by holding inquiries and making "examples" of people.

"Shame on the thieves, shame on the corrupters and shame on the corrupted!" he declared to cheers from the flag-waving crowd, gathered in front of VIP stands where party officials and other dignitaries were packed together.

Loudspeakers blasted music from a group singing: "You don't change a winning team!"

Six candidates are vying to unseat Sassou Nguesso in Sunday's presidential election, but the main opposition parties have announced they will not stand, arguing conditions for a free and transparent vote have not been met.

Sassou Nguesso pledged at the rally to develop the industrial and agricultural sectors of the oil- and gas-rich central African country.

He also promised infrastructure projects to address youth unemployment, one of the leading complaints in the country.

- 'We want jobs' -

"He's here. That's fine. We're happy with him. But we want jobs for young people," said Rodney, a mechanic, dressed in a T-shirt bearing the president's image.

Revenue from hydrocarbons is driving growth in Congo-Brazzaville, whose economy is estimated to have expanded by 2.9 percent in 2025, but almost half the population lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Rachelle, a civil servant, said she was at the rally on sufferance.

"I'm here because I have to be," she confided.

"Everything here depends on who you know -- getting a job, getting a passport, and so on -- but to be honest, my heart isn't in it. We're being suffocated."

Elsewhere in Brazzaville, two election rallies for other candidates took place, with several hundred people in attendance.

Sassou Nguesso first led Congo under a one-party system from 1979 to 1992 before losing the first multi-party presidential election, whose winner he then overthrew in a civil war in 1997.

He has maintained a firm grip over the former French colony, which gained independence in 1960 and has traditionally maintained close ties with both France and Russia.

Sassou Nguesso, whose face has adorned campaign posters plastered across the streets of the capital, Brazzaville, faces the risk of a low voter turnout, according to analysts.

He has campaigned across the country since February 18, backed by the resources of the ruling Congolese Labour Party (PCT).