It is widely accepted that Fayulu won almost two third of the vote, but continental and international support for him is slipping.

Martin Fayulu’s call for peaceful resistance will continue to frustrate efforts to secure stability and prosperity in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Catholic Church, that cast severe doubt on the victory of President Felix Tshisekedi,  now accepts Fayulu’s battle for recognition of his victory has entered the political arena.

Despite misgivings expressed by some of them, African heads of government gathering in Addis Ababa later this week are expected to endorse Thisekedi.

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Of the many brickbats justifiably being hurled at the Congo’s new President Felix Tshisekdi, daddy’s boy is not one of them.

Nepotism could easily spring to mind as the reason why the son of the veteran opposition figure finally gets the job his father managed to secure.

This would be simplistic and frankly wrong.

Etienne Tshisekedi, who founded the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) and opposed presidents Mobutu Sese Seko, Laurent Kabila and Joseph Kabila , made no bones about  what he saw as his son’s inexperience and inadequacies. He frequently said he was not about to hand his offspring  a free ticket to his life’s work.

It was only after Etienne’s death in 2017 that Belgian- educated Felix was able to rise through the ranks to take the leadership of the UDPS.

Felix is adamant that he will emulate his late  father who he refers to as his master.

Family members say the son has none of the stubbornness and pride that hampered his father but enabled him to persevere through internal exile and imprisonment.

Felix is diplomatic, conciliatory and ready to listen to a variety of viewpoints.

This should stand him in good stead running the Central African giant rich in minerals including the coltan that keeps our smart phones and other electronic devices working.

For if there is anything that that abounds in this fecund country capable of feeding the entire continent, it is the variety of viewpoints.

His father’s misgivings about his inexperience notwithstanding, Felix has shown an adeptness in deal making that would the envy of his counterpart in the White House.

He quickly broke free of an opposition election pact when it became clear that he could do more beneficial business with the incumbent President Joseph Kabila who was about it stand down after 18 years in power but made no secret of  medium-term plans to get back at the helm in 2023.

The deal they stitched up will give Tshisekedi the presidency but he will be hamstrung by not controlling the legislature still firmly in the hands of the Kabila coalition with 337 of the 500 seats.

Indeed, Tshisikedi’s coalition has only 46 MPs. The second most powerful party in the legislature – with 102 seats – is the coalition of Martin Fayulu who’s claim to have won the Presidential election is backed by the Catholic Church, the European Union, France and Belgium.

So Tshisekedi will have his work cut out delivering on his campaign promises to restore the rule of law, eradicate the “gangrene” of corruption and bring prosperity to the country reduced to poverty by decades of Mobutu Sese Seko’s kleptocracy, Laurent Kabila’s venality and his son’s corruption.

Nevertheless those countries and organizations that have put on record their serious doubts about the vote count recorded by the national electoral commission have now taken a pragmatic view.

They accept the sovereign decision of the Congolese administration and constitutional court, which upheld the election result, and are hoping Tshisekedi can do what he has promised.

The denouement is far from perfect. But which African solutions are? 

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The European grouping calls on all parties to refrain from any action that could lead to violence.

The EU statement notes that the African Union has serious doubts about the DRC poll results announced by the electoral commission and upheld by the constitutional court.

The Financial Times reports seeing documented evidence that proves Martin Fayulu won the election – confirming the information from more than 40 000 observers from the Catholic Church and justifying the misgivings of the African continental body and the governments of France and Belgium.

So far, the Presidents of South Africa and Kenya have congratulated Etienne Tshisekedi as President elect. 

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But as the United Nations Security Council prepares to take up the matter today, the varied responses to the announcement from the electoral commission show it’s far from universally accepted.

The African Union congratulates the Congolese people on the peaceful election that will give the DRC the first democratic change of President in its history.

The European Union, by contrast says its waiting to peruse results from different observer missions.

France and Belgium have joined Catholic bishops in casting doubt on the provisional outcome giving Felix Tshisekedi victory.

Martin Fayulu, the man they believe actually won, denounces what he calls an electoral coup and says he’ll take his objections to the Constitutional Court that must now determined the final result.

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Riot police have been deployed since yesterday for fear of violence.

Bishops of the Catholic Church, which is easily the most dominant religion in the Democratic Republic of Congo, were saying last week that they knew who had won the Presidential election.

They obeyed the law against naming any victor prematurely.

However, diplomatic sources gleaned from them that opposition coalition candidate Martin Fayulu had succeeded as pre-election polls indicated he would.

Fayulu is expected to contest the provisional result and the fact that more than 1,2 million voters in three cities strongly supporting him had been disenfranchised.

The question is, will his supporters chose the streets or the courts to express their rejection of the outcome.

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The Western members of the 15-nation UN powerhouse and human rights watchdog groups are urging South Africa to intervene with the Kinshasa  government and ensure the results reflect the will of the Congolese people.

For now, United Nations Security Council members are going with the South African call to give the electoral commission in Kinshasa time to do its work.

But the Western powers – Britain,  France and the United States – expect this to be completed by the time the council meets at the end of the week.

And, briefed by the Catholic Church and human rights groups that closely watched the elections and the counting, they’ll not tolerate any attempt by the President Joseph Kabila’s government to manipulate the results.   

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It will be the first meeting of the UN powerhouse for South Africa in its third term as a rotating member of the 15-nation body.

France has called for the UN Security Council meeting on the DRC.

The central African giant is on a knife edge as the electoral commission known as CENI says provional results it was scheduled to release on Sunday will be delayed because information is  coming in too slowly from polling stations.

The Catholic Church contradicts this, saying it knows who has won and calls on CENI to make the announcement and stem the approaching storm.

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United Nations peacekeepers were deployed to restore order in the capital Kinshasa.

The demonstrations were centered around Catholic churches. They called for the rallies after abandoning  their mediation role in the DRC super-heated politics.

President Joseph Kabila, who’s constitutional mandate expired in November 2016, says elections will be held by the end of this year.

But that’s not good enough for growing numbers of protesters who want him to go now.

Three months ago their demonstrations turned deadly.

Yesterday, UN blue helmets drafted in to restore peace, were unable to prevent it happening again.

Congolese police reportedly fired live rounds and teargas into the crowds.

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