The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will head to the polls on Sunday.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) faced the huge challenge rolling out the ballot across the vast Central African country ahead of what is meant to be the DR Congo's first democratic transfer of power since its independence in 1960.
During an exclusive interview with CGTN, the DRC's incumbent President Joseph Kabila stressed that elections should take place in the peaceful atmosphere.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday also urged all sides to ensure that landmark elections in the DRC be free of violence to allow voters to peacefully cast their ballots.
The election in numbers
Half of the DR Congo's 80 million population is registered to witness the country's first democratic transfer of power and 75,000 polling stations and 105,000 voting machines are ready for the vote.
There are 21 official candidates for the presidential election and among the 21, Kabila's preferred successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary; Felix Tshisekedi, president of the DR Congo's largest opposition party, and opposition businessman Martin Fayulu are considered the three dominant contenders.
Besides the presidential race, voters will also elect representatives to the provincial and national assemblies. There are 500 and 715 seats in each, respectively.
The CENI will also be dispatching over half a million agents across the country to manage the electoral process. They have 150 military trucks, and also planes and helicopters at their disposal to access harder-to-reach areas.
Three frontrunners
- Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary
Shadary, 58, is a faithful supporter of President Kabila. After Kabila took power in 2001 following the assassination of his father, Shadary helped him found the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) a year later.
He is now PPRD's permanent secretary and served as interior minister and governor before.
Shadary speaks Swahili and Lingala, the two languages used in the eastern and western DRC respectively.
Former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary is pictured at the Electoral Commission in Kinshasa, August 8, 2018. /VCG Photo
- Felix Tshisekedi
Tshisekedi, 55, took the helm of the DRC's mainstream opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) after his father, the founder of the UDPS died in early 2017.
He gained a Belgian diploma in marketing and communication but he has never held high office or had management experience.
On November 11, Tshisekedi joined six other opposition leaders to rally behind a single unity candidate, Fayulu, to take on Shadary.
However, the deal was later rejected by the grassroots party members and Tshisekedi had to pursue his own election bid.
The Democratic Republic of Congo's main opposition Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party president Felix Tshisekedi speaks during a press conference at the Press Club of Brussels, May 18, 2018. /VCG Photo
- Martin Fayulu
Fayulu, 62, ranked front in the final weeks before the elections and is a fiery critic of President Kabila.
He is backed by two political heavyweights – ex-warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba and businessman Moise Katumbi, an exiled former provincial governor, both of whom were blocked from running.
Fayulu studied in France and the United States, later taking up a role in 1984 with the U.S. oil group which became Exxon Mobil. He then spent for nearly two decades in the oil giant.
If elected, he has pledged to invest 126 billion U.S. dollars in the economy and create 20 million jobs over five years.
 Democratic Republic of Congo's opposition politician Martin Fayulu attends a press conference in Geneva, November 11, 2018. /VCG Photo
Long-awaited election
The elections in the DRC, Africa's second-largest nation, were long overdue.
The December 31, 2016 Agreement allowed President Kabila, who has been in power since 2001, to stay on after his term of office had expired, on the condition that elections would be held within 2017.
But elections were delayed on the grounds of logistics, triggering unrest. In November 2017, the CENI announced the new electoral date of December 23, 2018.
The CENI announced another delay last Thursday citing a fire that destroyed ballot papers as the main reasons for the delay.
A police officer stands guard as a truck of the Congolese Independent National Election Commission (CENI) waits to be fixed after breaking down while on the way to deliver some voting machines in a road near the remote small village of Bonde, Kongo Central, the Democratic Republic of Congo, December, 26, 2018. /VCG Photo
Due to the outbreak of Ebola and "the threat of terrorism," the CENI announced on Wednesday that the vote in cities of Beni and Butembo in the eastern North Kivu province, and the city of Yumbi in western Bandundu province will take place in March next year.
However, the CENI stressed those delays will not affect the timetable for the presidential ballot.
The final results of the presidential vote will be published on January 15, and the next president will be sworn in on January 18.
(With inputs from agencies)