Four things to know at the start of the 2024-2028 legislature in the Democratic Republic of Congo

As the Congolese National Assembly begins the special session of the new 2024–28 legislature, here are four things to know about the lower chamber of parliament.

1. How many parliamentarians are there?

According to figures released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Commission électorale nationale indépendante, CENI), 477 provisionally elected national parliamentarians are set to participate in the inaugural session of the special session marking the beginning of the 2024–28 legislative term. The absence of twenty-three elected members is notable, primarily in districts affected by armed violence, where CENI faced challenges in organizing polls, such as Masisi and Rutshuru in North Kivu and Kwamouth in Maï-Ndombe. Additionally, there are districts, including Masimanimba in Kwilu, and Yakoma in North Ubangi, where votes were canceled.

These 477 parliamentarians provide an initial glimpse into the distribution of power within the legislative assembly, which is dominated by the political groups (regroupements politiques) that make up the Union Sacrée de la Nation, the coalition surrounding President Félix Tshisekedi.

Number of parliamentarians by party/group

2. How many parliamentarians were re-elected?

Out of the 477 parliamentarians provisionally declared “elected” by CENI, 151 from the previous legislature are returning to their seats–nearly 32 percent of the new legislature. Of these, eleven of them were unable to occupy their seats for the entire term during the entire previous legislature due to their ministerial responsibilities, leading them to relinquish their seats to substitutes (suppléants).

Map of re-elected Members of Parliament (MPs)

3. How many women were elected?

A total of sixty-one women, approximately 13 percent of the total, are set to take their seats during the inaugural special session of the new legislature. This represents a slight decrease from the previous legislature, where the initial count was sixty-six, later increased to sixty-eight through the addition of substitutes mentioned above. Of these, thirteen women were re-elected, including important figures like Aminata Namasia Bazego, the youngest parliamentarian elected in 2018; Ève Bazaiba, the current Minister for the Environment and Nature Conservation; as well as Geneviève Inagosi and Christelle Vuanga, who currently serves as Chair of the National Assembly's Gender, Family, and Children Commission.

In terms of political groups, the Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social (UDPS)/Tshisekedi, the presidential party, leads the ranking with eight women MPs. It is followed by Ensemble pour la république (Ensemble for the Republic) led by opposition politician Moïse Katumbi; the Alliance des forces démocratiques du Congo et alliés (AFDC-A) led by Modeste Bahati, outgoing president of the Senate; and Agissons et bâtissons (AB) led by Danny Banza Maloba, each having five women elected.

4. What is the parliamentarians’ average age?

According to the lists of parliamentarians provisionally proclaimed elected by the CENI, the average age at the National Assembly is fifty-one. The youngest deputy is twenty-six, and the oldest is eighty-one. The provisional bureau of this new legislature will be composed of the oldest member, Christophe Mboso (81), elected from the Kenge district, and two youngest members, Moïse Ajé Matembo (26) from the Lubudi district and Serge Bahati (27) from the Kabare district.

Originally published on January 29, 2024 via talatala.cd. Talatala is a parliamentary and government tracker project from CIC's Congo Research Group and local research partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ebuteli.