By East African Gazette
Kampala
President Félix Tshisekedi has been declared the winner of Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) general elections after tussling with 17 opposition candidates who are demanding to nullify the elections exercise.
Denis Kadima, the President of Independent National Electoral Commission has already declared Felix Tshisekedi as the new president while the opposition leaders are calling for a re-election due to the postponement of voting exercise to another day. Kadima said they experienced irregularities reported by their own and independent observers.
Kadima said opposition leaders want a re-election of the disputed vote adding that they are “bad losers.”
The president Tshisekedi has won with 4,835,253 million votes (78.9%) of the vote, Moise Katumbi 873,616 votes (18%) and Martin Fayulu 903,248 as the main contenders of the elections. This was during the results released on 31 December Kinshasa.
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Over 40 million people out of the 100 million people registered voters, on December 20 elected their president, as well as municipal councillors, national and regional lawmakers totalling to 100 elected members.
The elections were affected by the delays in transportation of election materials to the polling stations in time and this led the voting to be extended to the second day.
According to the observers many people waited for hours before they voted and this led some people to miss out. Most of the polling stations opened late and even the voting machines were faulty..
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Tshisekedi’s supporters have taken to the streets to celebrate the victory while the army is deployed in various parts of the capital, Kinshasa.
The head of the Independent National Electoral Commission Denis Kadima said though there were irregularities they would not affect the results of the elections. President Tshisekedi will be sworn in for a second term on 20 January.
Tshisekedi, son of veteran opposition leader Étienne Tshisekedi, contested for the second time since 2019elections.
That followed a poll which some observers, including the influential Catholic Church, said was won by former oil executive Martin Fayulu who came third in this election with 5%..
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Other opposition leaders included Moise Katumbi, Martin Fayulu. Katumbi has already said it is not worth it, because the courts are not independent.
Kadima said turnout was about 43% of the 41 million registered voters who blamed the electoral commission for not playing its role to enable the population to exercise their rights.
It is not clear if any of the 18 opposition candidates will challenge the results in courts. The Constitutional Court has 10 days to hear any legal challenges before it is due to announce the final results on 10 January 2024.
The DRC since its independence lacks basic infrastructure connecting to other cities by road.
During the campaigns, Tshisekedi repeatedly lashed out at Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, who he accused of backing the M23 rebel which has seized territory in the Eastern part.
In most parts of Eastern DRC elections due to insecurity have raged there for over 30 years. Over seven million people were forced into exile in Uganda and other countries.
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The opposition has claimed there was “total chaos” during the vote, and denounced irregularities in the polling. The archbishop of Kinshasa likewise described the election as a “gigantic organized mess”.
An election-observation of the Catholic Church and Protestant churches also highlighted numerous cases of irregularities and raised questions about the legality of the voting process.
President Tshisekedi thanked his voters for electing him to lead the country for the second time.
“I have been re-elected as president of all Congolese,” Tshisekedi, dressed in a white shirt and cap, told cheering supporters. “It’s in this spirit of openness that I will exercise this second mandate.” Tshisekedi said.
President Yoweri Museveni has congratulated the people of the DRC successful elections on his twitter handle.
“I take this opportunity, on behalf of the Ugandans, to congratulate President Felix Tshisekedi on winning the electoral contest in Congo, as announced by the Electoral Commission” President Museveni said.
Museveni said Tshisekedi has positively contributed to the efforts of the region by bringing Congo into the East African Community and by allowing us to work with the Congo Army in dismantling the ADF in Eastern Congo.
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“We look forward to more brotherly cooperation with the people and the government of Congo” he said.
Kitumbi strongly condemned the acts by saying that the point of no return had just been crossed during the voting exercise. Kitumbi said they will not keep quiet but the action will be followed by other actions throughout the country.
“I express my compassion to the injured and victims of the dictatorship. My courage to peacefully defend freedom and democracy is in line with our heroes. All together we are condemned to take control of our destiny. A new Congo is possible”.
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Who is Tshisekedi?
Tshisekedi, a member of the Luba ethnic group, was born in Kinshasa on 13 June 1963 to mother Marthe and father Étienne Tshisekedi, who served as Prime Minister of Zaire in the 1990s