DRC: African Leaders Congratulate Felix Tshisekedi on his reelection

African leaders have congratulated DRC President Felix Tshisekedi upon his reelection.

“I warmly congratulate my Counterpart and Brother HE Félix Antoine Tshisekedi for his re-election at the head of DRC following the publication of the provisional results,” said Burundian leader, Evariste Ndayishimiye.

“In the event of a possible electoral dispute, I hope for a peaceful resolution through legal channels,” he added.

On 20 December 2023 millions of voters in the DRC participated in the synchronised general elections to choose national, provincial, and local public representatives.

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.

“The CENI reminds the independent candidates, parties and political groups that competed in the election of the President of the Republic on December 20, 2023 that, in accordance with Article 73 of the Electoral Law, appeals to challenge the provisional results thus published must be filed with the Constitutional Court within two days after the announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

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.

Leaders speak out

Tanzanian president, Samia Suluhu also extended her “Heartfelt congratulations to His Excellency, President Félix Tshisekedi on being re-elected as the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

She added: “I am looking forward to continuing working together in fostering the relations between our two countries and our East African Community (EAC).”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also conveyed “South Africa’s message of congratulations to H.E. Mr Félix Tshisekedi, President-Elect, on his re-election as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).”

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

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

CENI said as soon as the voting operations were completed, the Polling and Recounting Stations (BVD) immediately counted the ballots and posted the results before each BVD.

All the appropriate measures have been taken by the CENI for a rapid and secure transmission of these results in order to guarantee the truth of the ballot boxes.

Ahead of the elections, a poll conducted by GeoPoll said the majority of the voters were willing to support a second term for President Felix Tshisekedi and saw no alternative candidate deserving of their vote.

According to the poll, “most Congolese people are thoroughly dissatisfied with the state of the country, with unemployment, insecurity, infrastructure and food prices the most mentioned challenges.”

However, the poll showed, “Perceptions have not, however, deteriorated further in the past year – in fact there are signs of marginal improvement, particularly in response to the ongoing implementation of universal free education.”

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