DR Congo: Martin Fayulu Asks The African Union to Intervene, Demands Re-elections in 6 Months

It’s been over six weeks since the presidential elections in Democratic Republic of Congo and the country has continued to be in the news since then. 

Observers claim that the elections were marred by irregularities and the chief accusation championed by the opposition is that outgoing president of the country, Joseph Kabila had brokered a backroom deal with the current president, Felix Tshisekedi to enable Kabila to remain in power indirectly.

Martin Fayulu, the second-placed candidate in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s 2018 elections has rejected the December 30th election results in all rights, calling it an electoral coup and asking for fresh polls to be held in the country.

Mr. Fayulu had led the pre-election polls by a wide margin but was shocked to have lost the elections to another opposition candidate, Felix Tshisekedi.

Felix Tshisekedi who is the son of veteran opposition leader, Etienne Tshisekedi, won the polls with over 38% of votes against Fayulu’s 34.8% according to official results.

Mr. Tshisekedi has been sworn in as president and had gone ahead to meet with a number of counterparts across the region – especially with Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa.

A visibly furious, Fayulu has written a letter to African leaders who were attending the 32nd Ordinary Heads of State summit in Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, over the weekend. 

He shared the letter on his Twitter handle in which he called on the AU to organize another election in the country within six months, claiming that the December 30, 2018 election does not reflect the will of Congolese voters.

The letter dated February 8, 2019, was addressed to African leaders attending the summit and was titled: Post electoral crisis in the DRC. The AU has not acknowledged receipt of the letter.

The interesting part, however, is that DR Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi whose mandate he is contesting has been inducted into the AU and was in Addis Ababa for the African Union summit.

What are your thoughts?

Header Image Credit: AFP