Roch Marc Christian Kabore will serve another five years as Burkina Faso’s president after being declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

According to provisional results announced by the National Independent Electoral Commission, Kabore won with nearly 58 per cent of the vote, beating 12 opponents and claiming victory in the first round.

Newton Ahmed Barry, the commission’s president said Kabore received 1.6 million votes of the nearly 3 million cast, with voter turnout at 50 per cent.

Eddie Komboigo, the candidate of a once-ruling party, came second in Sunday’s vote with 15.48 per cent of the ballot, followed by Zephirin Diabre, with 12.46 per cent.

The opposition has accused the ruling party of foul play, including bribery.

The process was “riddled with fraud” and the electoral commission was not up to the task of organising responsible elections, Tahirou Barry, an opposition candidate, told a press conference.

Halidou Ouedraogo, president of the organisation Codel which monitored the elections, admitted that there were some reports of irregularities but it wasn’t widespread.

According to reports, the opposition has seven days to appeal the outcome of the election.

The African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of the West African States, said appeals should be made through legal avenues.

Makuza Bernard, who led the AU delegation, said it was important they were made in a “calm environment and especially to avoid violence”.

He added:-

“We don’t need (violence). The Burkinabe don’t need that.”

Roch Marc Christian Kabore, was first elected as president in 2015. He was also the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso between 1994 and 1996 and President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso from 2002 to 2012.