The Conseil supérieur de la liberté de communication, the body that oversees media regulation in the Republic of Congo, held a certified draw on February 26, 2026, to establish the order in which seven presidential candidates would appear in public and private media during the campaign. A bailiff, Me Jean-Claude Olombo, was present to certify the proceedings, lending legal weight to an exercise that is as much about political legitimacy as it is about scheduling logistics.
The draw took place in Brazzaville and was attended by representatives of all seven candidates alongside media professionals. Its purpose was to assign each campaign a fixed broadcast slot, eliminating any perception that media access could be shaped by institutional preference or political proximity.
Seven Candidates, Seven Slots
The result of the draw produced a specific order that each candidate’s team would now work within. Anguios Nganguia Engambe, the candidate of the Parti pour l’action de la République, drew the first position. He was followed by Dave Uphrem Mafoula, standing as an independent, and then by Mabio Mavoungou Zinga, the Alliance candidate.
The fourth slot went to Mélaine Destin Gavet Elongo of the Mouvement républicain. Fifth came Vivien Romain Manangou, another independent, followed in sixth place by Joseph Kignoumbi Kia Mboungou, representing the party known as La Chaîne. Denis Sassou-N’Guesso, the candidate of the presidential majority, was assigned the final position in the broadcast sequence.
The Regulator’s Stated Mission
Médard Milandou Nsonga, the CSLC’s president, explained the draw by invoking the institution’s foundational mandate. The operation, he said, “falls within the fundamental mission of the institution, which consists of guaranteeing equal access of candidates to the media and ensuring balanced, transparent information in conformity with the laws of the Republic.”
He called on candidates to deliver “responsible and constructive messages” and asked media outlets to respect the established broadcast order without deviation. The combination of a certified draw and a public call for compliance reflects an awareness that the credibility of the process depends on its execution as much as its design.
Context: A Campaign Running to March 15
The draw organized access for the campaign period running from February 28 through March 15, 2026, ahead of elections scheduled for March 12 and 15. With seven candidates competing, the challenge for the CSLC was to divide available airtime in a way that could withstand scrutiny from all sides — including from campaigns with limited resources and from international observers monitoring how Congo managed its electoral process.
Presidential elections in Congo-Brazzaville have historically attracted close attention from regional and international observers precisely because the conditions under which campaigns unfold — including media access — carry weight in assessments of procedural legitimacy.
Why Broadcast Order Matters in Practice
The position in a broadcast sequence is not neutral. Earlier slots benefit from audiences that have not yet been saturated by campaign messaging. Later slots can reach voters closer to their decision, particularly in a compressed timeline. Each position carries trade-offs, which is why a random draw rather than an administrative assignment was the mechanism the CSLC chose.
Placing Sassou-N’Guesso last in the sequence, the result of a certified lottery, was one of those outcomes that procedurally demonstrates that the draw was genuine. Any other result might have invited skepticism about whether the outcome was engineered.