Constitutional court declares Tshisekedi DRC President elect

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Felix Tshisekedi's victory in the Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential election has been upheld by the country's constitutional court.

This despite serious concerns raised by observers and the African Union over the validity of the vote tally.

The court dismissed a petition filed by the election runners up Martin Fayulu challenging the preliminary results, calling for a vote recount.

The provisional results in the election showed Tshisekedi winning with a slim margin over Fayulu.

Kabila's favoured candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary came in a distant third.

Government spokesman Lambert Mende welcomed the court's decision.

“Felix Tshisekedi will become the fifth president of the republic,” Mende said by telephone.

Speculation has been rife of a deal brokered between outgoing President Joseph Kabila and Tshisekedi to grind out the victory, a position both camps have in the past denied.

In making its decision, Constitutional Court President Benoit Lwamba argued that Fayulu offered no proof to back his assertions that he had won easily based on leaked data attributed to the electoral commission.

“We proclaim the elected with a simple majority, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo Mr. Tshisekedi Tshilombo Felix,” Lwamba said.

Fayulu has accused Tshisekedi and the ruling party of stitching up the result with his position likely to stoke further unrest over the disputed poll.

After the court gave its verdict, Fayulu urged Congolese to take to the streets to peacefully protest what he called “constitutional coup d'etat,” accusing the court of validating false results.

“It's no secret … that you have elected me president,” he told his supporters.

His sentiments are expected to stoke further unrest over the bitterly disputed poll.

The African Union (AU) last week called for final results to be postponed.

The AU, which often sits on the fence when it comes to mediating internal conflicts of member countries, cited “serious doubts” about the election's credibility.

The largely untested Tshisekedi, son of the late, charismatic opposition leader Etienne, is set to be inaugurated on Tuesday.

His supporters who had gathered outside the court cheered.

“It's a shame that Mr Fayulu wants to stay isolated,” Tshisekedi's spokesman, Vidiye Tshimanga, told The Associated Press.

He said the two men once had been part of an opposition coalition demanding that Kabila step down.

Congo's election had been meant to take place in late 2016, and many Congolese worried that Kabila, in power since 2001, was seeking a way to stay in office.