By Our Reporter
Kinshasa, DR Congo: Calm and sanity is set to return in the Democratic Republic of Congo after the Electoral Commission announcing Felix Tshisekedi as the winner of the December presidential election.
Tshisekedi was announced president elect last night following secret talks held in South Africa between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zambian president Edgar Lungu. Tshisekedi was battling for the presidency with Martin Fayulu and Emmanuel Ramazan Shadary and although the election was held on December 30th, 2018, it has taken almost two weeks for the electoral commission to announce the winner. The delay sparked off riots in several parts of the country, which prompted American president Donald Trump to deploy US soldiers in neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR), in anticipation of war outbreak in Congo. Riot police were earlier deployed to protect election officials in the DRC as it braced for the announcement of the results of the presidential vote. Security forces took up positions outside the offices of the DRC’s electoral commission and elsewhere in the capital, Kinshasa, amid fears that violence would mar the first electoral transfer of power in 59 years of independence.
However, it is not yet clear whether outgoing president Joseph Kabila will hand over power peacefully or will continue with his political games. But this will be Congo’s historical moment in politics because the country had never held a presidential election since 1960 when it attained its independence from Belgium.
