Denis Sassou Nguesso, the 82-year-old leader of the Republic of the Congo — known as Congo-Brazzaville to distinguish it from its larger neighbour across the river — was inaugurated on Thursday for a fifth consecutive presidential term. The ceremony was held at a stadium in Kintélé, a northern suburb of the capital Brazzaville, before hundreds of thousands of spectators and roughly ten African heads of state, including Rwandan President Paul Kagamé and his Democratic Republic of Congo counterpart Félix Tshisekedi. Sassou Nguesso, who has now accumulated 41 years in power since he first took office in 1979 — with a brief interruption between 1992 and 1997 — was declared the winner of the March 15 election with 94.90% of the vote.

In his inaugural address, Sassou Nguesso cast himself as president of all Congolese citizens and directed his remarks particularly toward young people, urging them to work hard and know their country's history. He was elected on a platform titled