Presidential sources in Kinshasa say Felix Tshisekedi has started a new era of openness by freeing Katumbi  and more than 700 other prisoners.

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Moïse Katumbi tried in vain to get home for last year’s election won by Felix Tshisekedi.

He’d fled into exile in May 2016 after being accused of recruiting mercenaries.

He was sentenced in absentia to three years imprisonment for real estate fraud.

Pardoning Katumbi and other political foes of Joseph Kabila is designed to draw a line under the oppressive period of  the former president’s rule.  

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Analysts believe it was stitched up before Tshisekedi’s disputed election win last January.

After 18 years in power, Joseph Kabila bowed to international and domestic pressure to step down.

But only until 2023 when he will constitutionally be permitted to run again.

When it became clear his chosen successor Emmanuel Shadary had no chance of winning the election, Kabila entered into a deal with Felix Tshisekedi and ensured that the latter won the poll.

Unable to govern because of the chokehold Kabila’s coalition has on parliament, Tshisekedi’s been forced to enter into a power-sharing deal.

It will enable him to name a prime minister.

But it stymies any hope he might have had of being a reformist president.

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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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Kabila says he’ll hand over the reins without regret.

The election of Felix Tshisekedi remains controversial. 

France, which cast doubt on the results of the Presidential election, has noted Tshisekedi’s win but stopped short of congratulating him. 

It will send its ambassador in Kinshasa to witness his swearing in.

The Presidents of South Africa, Kenya, Burundi, and Tanzania have all congratulated Tshisekedi  and underlined their respect for the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The wait-and-see attitude adopted by fellow African and the wider international community puts the onus on the new DRC president to deliver on the reconciliation and progress that he has promised.

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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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The African Union, which says there are serious doubts about the figures presented to support Tshisekedi’s win, has scrapped plans to send a delegation to the Congo.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Keyatta say yesterday’s ruling by the Constitutional Court in Kinshasa confirms Felix Tshisekedi’s election win requires 

all actors to respect this exercise of DRC national sovereignty.

Martin Fayulu, who claims he won 60% of the vote calls on supporters to demonstrate peacefully against what he calls a constitutional coup d’etat.

The European Union has joined the African Union, France, Belgium and the Catholic bishops in casting doubt on the figures produced by the electoral commission in the DRC.

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The continental body says there are serious doubts about the provisional results declaring Felix Tshisekedi the winner.

The African Union statement says a high level delegations is being urgently despatched to the DRC to find way out of the country’s post-election crisis.

Martin Fayulu, widely thought to have won the poll, has demanded a recount of ballots cast on December 30.

The Constitutional Court could rule on this as early as today.

AU heads of state and government meeting in Addis Ababa yesterday expressed serious doubts about the conformity of results proclaimed by the Congolese electoral commission with tallies recorded by observers on the ground.

There are fears of violence of these provisional results are confirmed. 

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They’ll be looking at reconciling the results announced by the electoral commission in Kinshasa with the  sharp disputes over the outcome.

The six members of SADC’s  Double Troika will look at the DRC where opposition coalition candidate Martin Fayulu has asked the Constitutional Court examine provisional results declaring  Felix Tshisekedi winner. 

SADC observers have endorsed the DRC election and the regional leadership is proposing a power-power-sharing deal to keep the peace in that restive Central African giant.

On completion of the Double Troika meeting, SADC’s political and security leaders will deliberate with their counterparts from the Great Lakes region and the African Union Commission.

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The statement was made at last night’s meeting of the United Nations Security Council following publication of disputed interim results from the Presidential elections in that country declaring the winner to be Felix Tshisikedi.

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South Africa’s statement commends the commitment of the Congolese people to the peace process.

It calls on the international community and particularly the 15-nation UN Security Council to support this with a balanced and measured approach.

The road ahead made be difficult and long, says the statement calling on the council to accompany the Congolese people on the journey to long term stability, peace and happiness.

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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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