DR Congo: Museveni, Ramaphosa, Ruto Hail Tshisekedi Election Victory

President Museveni has joined dozens of African leaders who have congratulated DRC President Felix Tshisekedi upon his reelection.

“I take this opportunity, on behalf of the Ugandans, to congratulate H.E Felix Tshisekedi on winning the electoral contest in Congo, as announced by the Electoral Commission,” said Museveni on New Year’s Day.

“H.E 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,” he added.

DRC’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) on December 31 published the provisional results of the presidential election of 20 December 2023, showing Tshisekedi had won the race with 73% of the total votes counted. 

“At the end of its deliberation, the Plenary Assembly of the CENI, by Decision No. 130/CENI/AP/2023 of 31 December 2023, provisionally published candidate No. 20, Mr. Felix Antoine TSHISEKEDI TSHILOMBO, elected President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, having obtained 13,215,366 validly cast, for a percentage of 73.34,” said CENI in a statement to ChimpReports.

Moise Katumba came second with 3.2 million votes representing 18% while Martin Fayulu was third with 960,478 votes (5.3%). 

CENI said the declarations were based on results from 64,196 Polling and Counting Stations out of the 75,478.

Other African leaders who have welcomed Tshisekedi’s victory include Kenya’s William Ruto, Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu, South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa and Burundian president  Evariste Ndayishimiye among others. 

“We look forward to more brotherly cooperation with the People and the government of Congo,” said Museveni.

Several opposition leaders including Martin Fayulu have rejected the outcome of the election, urging supporters to take to the streets. 

Ramaphosa

On his part, Ramaphosa “strongly commended the people of the DRC for exhibiting maturity, a sense of calm and unity during the period of elections.”

He said, “Through these elections, the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have taken a solid step towards consolidating democracy in their country, and have expressed their desire for a peaceful, secure and prosperous future”.

President Ramaphosa also called  for calm should any of the participants dispute the election results and urged all parties to follow legal channels as set out in the constitution of the DRC.

The deadline for examining the litigation of the presidential election is seven days from the date of referral to the Constitutional Court (Article 74 of the Electoral Act). 

Ruto

Ruto also expressed his “sincere congratulations to my brother His Excellency Felix Tshisekedi, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for a well-deserved victory.”

Ruto said “the election is a milestone in the democratic history of your nation. I look forward to strengthening the Kenya-DRC relations for the mutual benefit of our countries.”

Pre-election polls showed that Tshisekedi would win the election due to ongoing implementation of universal free education.

The opposition remained divided and were unable to align in time for the polls.