Democratic Republic of Congo’s presidential election winner Felix Tshisekedi has paid his respects to outgoing President Joseph Kabila, whom he described as a “partner in democratic change”.
Speaking to thousands of cheering supporters in the capital Kinshasa, Tshisekedi said he would be the president “of all Congolese”.
The president of the election commission (CENI) had earlier told a news conference at about 3 a.m., that the candidate of the Cap for Change (CACH) coalition and UDPS party leader, won with 38.57 percent of more than 18 million ballots cast.
If Tshisekedi’s victory is confirmed in the next 10 days by the constitutional court, he will become the first leader to take power at the ballot box since Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, who was toppled in a coup less than three months after independence in 1960 and killed four months later.
