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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Mengistu Haile Mariam, who presided over the deaths of thousands in Ethiopia’s Red Terror,  is but one of many ousted African leaders sheltering in exile.

Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh is the latest Africa ejected by his country.

He’s been taken in by Equatorial Guinea.

Blaize Campaore is in Ivory Coast after Burkina Faso had enough of his 27-year rule.

Charles Taylor of Liberia and Hissen Habre of Chad are both serving lengthy prison sentences.

Mobutu Sese Seko of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda’s Idi Amin both died in exile after being deposed.

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Several people have died in the DRC protesting against any delay, arguing that its amounts to President Joseph Kabila clinging to power.

Foreign policy chief  Maite Nkoane Mshebane says the DRC is engaged  in an unprecedented political process.

Since the removal of Mobutu Sese Seko more than 20 years ago, the DRC has never had local or provincial government elections.

In registering new voters Congolese authorities say they’ve discovered about eight million people who’ve  have reached the voting age but are not on the voters’ roll.

There is also the inter-Congolese dialogue that all parties have agreed to.

“If that means the DRC government delaying elections, it would be supported by us. We cannot determine the date of another country’s elections,” said the South African foreign minister

South Africa played a key role in negotiating the inclusive political settlement in post Mobutu DRC.

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He was given  rapturous welcome by thousands at Kinshasa airport.

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Veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi has been convalescing in Belgium these past two years.

His return comes amid growing tension in the mineral-rich but unstable central African giant  over fears that President Joseph Kabila will postpone elections due to be held late this year in a bid to extend his rule.

Kabila, who has been in power since his father’s assassination in 2001, is widely believed to want a third term in office despite a constitutional limit of two terms.

Thisekedi, 83, came second to Kabila in the 2011 presidential election, which observers said was tainted by widespread fraud.

The veteran politician emerged as a leading opposition voice in the 1980s when he criticised former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

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