Nobel Prize Winner Announces Candidacy for Presidency of Congo

Dr. Denis Mukwege, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, announced today that he will run for president in the upcoming elections scheduled for December in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mukwege, who won the award in 2018 for his fight against sexual violence, expressed his intention to run before a crowd of supporters at a conference center in the capital, Kinshasa. The 68-year-old doctor has treated hundreds of victims of rape from wars at the Panzi Hospital, which he founded in 1999 in eastern Congo, a region plagued by conflict. He will be competing against President Félix Tshisekedi, whose first term has been marred by economic difficulties, epidemics, and insecurity in the east, where the M23 rebel group launched a significant attack last year. Opposition leader Martin Fayulu, who finished second behind Tshisekedi in the previous elections in 2018, also announced over the weekend that he will run for presidency.