In March 2016, President Sassou-Nguesso won a third term in the first round of presidential polling, with 60 percent of the vote. Sassou-Nguesso’s candidacy had been enabled by the approval of a controversial 2015 constitutional referendum that removed age and term-limit restrictions on the presidency. The referendum had been marred by deadly violence and intimidation.

Opposition figures dismissed the subsequent 2016 presidential election as fraudulent, and the European Union (EU) and U.S. echoed concerns about the poll’s credibility. In addition to allegations of widespread vote rigging, police had repeatedly summoned the main opposition candidate, retired General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, for questioning ahead of the election. Additionally, mobile phone and internet services were cut off the day of the poll in what observers described as a means of preventing the spread of information about voter turnout and suspected electoral fraud. There were multiple reports of the intimidation of journalists by authorities during the election period. 

In early April, after the results were released, antigovernment protests erupted in Brazzaville, during which some participants barricaded certain neighborhoods and set several government buildings on fire. Armed actors eventually clashed with government forces, and more than dozen people were killed in the unrest. In response, the government launched airstrikes in the southeastern Pool region in an attempt to attack the leader of an armed group known as the Ninjas, which had fought against the government in the country’s 1997–99 civil war and which was blamed for the Brazzaville violence. Some 30 people were reportedly killed and schools, churches, and medical facilities were damaged.

Opposition figures faced repression following the polls. In April, security forces surrounded Mokoko’s home, preventing him from leaving, and in June he was charged with jeopardizing national security and possessing weapons illegally. In July, opposition leader Paulin Makaya of the United for Congo (UPC) party was sentenced to two years in prison following his arrest on charges of inciting disorder over his participation in protests against the 2015 constitutional referendum.

The president’s family and advisers effectively control the state oil company. The Panama Papers, a trove of documents leaked from a Panama-based law firm and unveiled by media organizations in April 2016, revealed the existence of offshore companies controlled by close associates of the president allegedly used to embezzle public funds from the company. Despite being one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil producers, corruption and decades of political instability have contributed to extreme poverty for most of the population.