Connect with us

International

CONGO ELECTION: Catholic church rejects result as loser cries ‘coup’

Published

on

CONGO ELECTION: Catholic church rejects result as loser cry 'coup'

The vote results in the Democratic Republic of Congo which witnessed opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi emerge winner of the presidential elections has been rejected by the Catholic church.

According to Congo’s Catholic Church, one of the country’s most respected institutions, Felix Tshisekedi is not the winner of the chaotic presidential election, as it suggested that its tally did not give victory to the opposition leader.

“The results from the presidential election as published by CENI do not correspond to the data collected by our observation mission from polling stations and vote counts,” the National Episcopal Conference of Congo observers said in a statement.

Read also: Trump demands funds for controversial wall, says Mexico border poses serious security threat to US

Tshisekedi, 55, had won the Dec. 30 vote, edging out another challenger, businessman Martin Fayulu.

However, Fayulu said Kabila had engineered an “electoral coup” to deny him the presidency.

Nevertheless, supporters of Congo’s president-elect were celebrating their unlikely win.

The head of the Independent National Election Commission said Tshisekedi had received more than seven million votes, compared to about 6.4 million for another opposition candidate, Martin Fayulu, who led in polling and warned against manipulation.

Long-time President Joseph Kabila’s hand-picked candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, was third with about 4.4 million votes.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now