DRC electoral board declares opposition leader winner of presidential election

The head of the Independent National Election Commission (CENI), has declared opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi as the winner of the long delayed presidential election.

According to results released by CENI, Tshisekedi emerged the winner after coming first in the polls with 38.57 percent of votes cast.

“Having gained … 38.57 percent of the vote, Felix Tshisekedi is provisionally declared the elected president of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Corneille Nangaa, the head of the Independent National Election Commission (CENI), said late on Wednesday in the capital, Kinshasa.

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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.

Hours before announcing the election result, DRC authorities had deployed riot policemen at the electoral commission headquarters in the capital of Kinshasa amid fears of a disputed result in the just concluded polls.

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