Recount Demanded in Congo Election

Martin Fayulu

By MATHILDE BOUSSION and SALEH MWANAMILONGO
Associated Press

   KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - Congo's presidential runner-up Martin Fayulu on Saturday said he has asked the constitutional court to order a recount in the disputed election, declaring that "you can't manufacture results behind closed doors."

   He could be risking more than a court refusal. Congo's electoral commission president Corneille Nangaa has said there are only two options: The official results are accepted or the vote is annulled - keeping President Joseph Kabila in power until another election.

   "They call me the people's soldier ... and I will not let the people down," Fayulu said. The court filing includes evidence from witnesses at polling stations across the country, he said.

   Rifle-carrying members of Kabila's Republican Guard deployed outside Fayulu's home and the court earlier Saturday. It was an attempt to stop him from filing, Fayulu said while posting a video of them on Twitter: "The fear remains in their camp."

   Fayulu has accused the declared winner, opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi, of a backroom deal with Kabila to win power in the mineral-rich nation as the ruling party candidate did poorly.

   The opposition coalition for Fayulu, a businessman vocal about cleaning up widespread corruption, has said he won 61 percent of the vote, citing figures compiled by the Catholic Church's 40,000 election observers across the vast Central African country.

   Those figures show Tshieskedi received 18 percent, the coalition said.

   The church, the rare authority that many Congolese find trustworthy, has urged the electoral commission to release its detailed vote results for public scrutiny. The commission has said Tshisekedi won with 38 percent while Fayulu received 34 percent.

   Earlier on Saturday, the commission announced that Kabila's ruling coalition had won an absolute majority of national assembly seats. That majority, which will choose the prime minister and form the next government, sharply reduces the chances of dramatic reforms under Tshisekedi.

   Congolese now face the extraordinary situation of a presidential vote allegedly rigged in favor of the opposition. "This is more than an electoral farce; it's a tragedy," the LUCHA activist group tweeted, noting a ruling party majority in provincial elections as well.

   This could be Congo's first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960, but observers have warned that a court challenge could lead to violence.

   The Dec. 30 election came after more than two turbulent years of delays as many Congolese worried that Kabila, in power since his father was assassinated in 2001, sought a way to stay in office to protect his sprawling assets.

   "Even if Tshisekedi's presidency survives these court challenges, he will be compromised beyond repair and reliant on Kabila, whose patronage network controls most of the country's levers of power, including the security forces," professor Pierre Engelbert, a fellow with at the Atlantic Council's Africa Center, wrote on Friday.

   Statements on the election by the international community, including African regional blocs, have not congratulated Tshisekedi, with some looking forward to final detailed results and many urging against violence.

   Congo's 80 million people have been largely peaceful since the vote, though the U.N. peacekeeping mission reported at least a dozen deaths in protests in Kwilu province. Authorities also noted demonstrations in Kisangani and Mbandaka cities.

   Internet service has been cut off across the country since election day.

   Tshisekedi had not been widely considered the leading candidate. Long in the shadow of his father, the late opposition leader Etienne, he broke away from the opposition's unity candidate, Fayulu, to stand on his own.

   After election results were announced, Tshisekedi said Kabila would be an "important partner" in the transition.

   Fayulu, who was backed by two popular opposition leaders barred by the government from running, is seen as more of a threat to Kabila's interests.

   The difference between Tshisekedi and Fayulu in official results was some 684,000 votes. One million voters were barred from the election at the last minute, with the electoral commission blaming a deadly Ebola virus outbreak. Elsewhere, observers reported numerous problems including malfunctioning voting machines and polling stations that opened hours late.

   The presidential inauguration will be on Jan. 22, the electoral commission said Saturday.

Former Rwanda Presidential Candidate Diane Rwigara Detained!

Diane Rwigara

By IGNATIUS SSUUNA
Associated Press

   KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) - A women's rights activist and former presidential hopeful is in police custody in Rwanda, her brother said, raising concerns about the whereabouts of a rare challenger to longtime President Paul Kagame.

   Police have said Diane Rwigara is free after her home in the capital, Kigali, was searched on Wednesday.

   But Rwigara's brother Aristide, who lives in the United States, told The Associated Press late Thursday that his sister was arrested Wednesday along with three siblings and their mother.

   Police have said Diane Rwigara is under investigation for tax evasion and forgery. She is accused of forging signatures to support a candidacy for the Aug. 4 vote.

   She was disqualified ahead of the election won easily by longtime President Paul Kagame, whose government has long been accused by human rights groups of silencing opposing voices. Kagame, who called the election a "formality" and won by nearly 99 percent of the vote, has denied the accusations.

   Rwigara could not be reached; her known phone number was switched off Thursday.

   "One of my sisters called my uncle, telling him the police had come to take them on Wednesday morning and we have never heard from them since Wednesday," Aristide Rwigara told the AP.

   The criminal allegations against the family are false, he said, insisting it has been targeted by Rwanda's government.

   "The government has been after my family for a long time because we refused also to do business with the ruling party," he said.

   Diane Rwigara is the daughter of the late Assinapol Rwigara, a businessman who fell out with Kagame before his death in a car accident in 2015.

   In an interview with the AP earlier this year, the 35-year-old acknowledged the risks of running against one of Africa's longest-serving leaders. "People disappear, others get killed in unexplained circumstances and nobody speaks about this because of fear," she said. "We must end this silence."

   Two days after declaring her candidacy for president, nude photographs allegedly of her were leaked on social media. It was not clear who was behind the leak.

   Rwigara later was disqualified as a candidate after allegedly failing to collect enough supporting signatures ahead of the election.

   Rwanda's electoral commission said she turned in signatures of some people who had long been dead and others who belonged to a rival political party. Rwigara denied it.

   Kagame has been de facto leader or president since the end of Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

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Sherehe ya Kumkabidhi Mh. John Magufuli Cheti cha Kushinda Urais

 Rais Mteule Dkt. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli na Makamu wa Rais Mteule Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan wakiwa na Mwenyekiti wa Chama cha UPDP Taifa  Mhe. Fahmi Dovutwa katika chumba cha VIP cha ukumbi wa Diamond Jubilee jijini Dar es salaam muda mfupi kabla ya kuanza kwa hafla ya kukabidhiwa hati ya Urais na Makamu wa Rais

 Rais Mteule Dkt. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli akiongea na Mwenyekiti wa Chama cha UPDP Taifa  Mhe. Fahmi Dovutwa katika chumba cha VIP cha ukumbi wa Diamond Jubilee jijini Dar es salaam muda mfupi kabla ya kuanza kwa hafla ya kukabidhiwa hati ya Urais na Makamu wa Rais

 Mwenyekiti wa ACT-Wazalendo Mhe. Anna Mghwira  na wagombea wengine wakiwa  katika chumba cha VIP cha ukumbi wa Diamond Jubilee jijini Dar es salaam muda mfupi kabla ya kuanza kwa hafla ya kukabidhiwa hati ya Urais na Makamu wa Rais

 Rais Mteule Dkt. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli na Makamu wa Rais Mteule Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan wakiwa na  wagombea wengine wakielekea  ukumbi wa Diamond Jubilee jijini Dar es salaam  tayari kwa hafla ya kukabidhiwa hati ya Urais na Makamu wa Rais

 Rais Mteule Dkt. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli na Makamu wa Rais Mteule Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan na Mhe Anna Mghwira na  wagombea wengine wakielekea  ukumbi wa Diamond Jubilee jijini Dar es salaam  tayari kwa hafla ya kukabidhiwa hati ya Urais na Makamu wa Rais

 Rais Mteule Dkt. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli na Makamu wa Rais Mteule Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan na Mhe Anna Mghwira na  wagombea wengine wakielekea  ukumbi wa Diamond Jubilee jijini Dar es salaam  tayari kwa hafla ya kukabidhiwa hati ya Urais na Makamu wa Rais

 Viongozi wa Tume ya Taifa ya Uchaguzi chini ya Jaji Damia Lubuva wakiwa tayari katika sehemu yao

 Meza kuu

 Mke wa Rais Mteule Mama Janet Mgufuli akisalimiana na Waziri wakuu wastaafu Mzee John Malecela na Jaji Joseph Sinde Warioba 

 Mama Janet Magufuli akisalimiana na Mama Salma Kikwete

 Rais Kikwete akisalimiana na Mama Janet Magufuli

 Mkrugenzi wa Uchaguzi Mhe. Kailima Ramadhani akisoma muhtasari wa ratiba

 Meza ya viongozi

 Wakuu wa vyombo vya Ulinzi na Usalama 

 Sehemu ya viongozi wa  taasisi mbalimbali na wastaafu

 Viongozi wa Taasisi mbalimbali

 Viongozi wa Taasisi mbalimbali

 Viongozi wa Taasisi mbalimbali

 Viongozi wa Taasisi mbalimbali na wananchi waliohudhuria

 Viongozi wa Taasisi mbalimbali

 Viongozi mbalimbali

 Viongozi wa Taasisi mbalimbali

 Viongozi wa Taasisi mbalimbali

 Viongozi wa Taasisi mbalimbali za umma na binfasi

 Viongozi wa asasi mbalimbali za umma na binafsi

 Wananchi kutoka sehemu mbalimbali

Balozi wa China nchini Tanzania Dkt. Lu Youqing akiwa ameketi na wananchi

 Sehemu ya wananchi na makada wa CCM

 Sehemu ya wananchi na makada wa CCM

 Sehemu ya wananchi na makada wa CCM

 Wanahabari

 Sehemu ya watumishi wa Tume ya Uchaguzi

 Sehemu ya watumishi wa Tume ya Uchaguzi

 Sehemu ya watumishi wa Tume ya Uchaguzi

 Wananchi toka sehemu mbalimbali

 Wanahabari na wananchi 

 Wananchi wakiwa na furaha

 Wananchi

 Mwenyekiti wa Tume ya Taifa ya Uchaguzi Jaji Damian Lubuva akisoma hotuba yake

 Wananchi wakimsikiliza Jaji Damina Lubuva

 Mwenyekiti wa Tume ya Taifa ya Uchaguzi Jaji Damian Lubuva akisoma hotuba yake

 Viongozi wa dini  na wananchi wakisikiliza

 Mwenyekiti wa Tume ya Taifa ya Uchaguzi Jaji Damian Lubuva akisoma hotuba yake

 Vifijo toka kwa viongozi

 Mwenyekiti wa Tume ya Taifa ya Uchaguzi Jaji Damian Lubuva akisoma hati kabla ya kuikabidhi wa Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli na Makamu wa Rais Mteule Mhe Samia Suluhu Hassan

 Mwenyekiti wa Tume ya Taifa ya Uchaguzi Jaji Damian Lubuva akisoma hati kabla ya kuikabidhi wa Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli na Makamu wa Rais Mteule Mhe Samia Suluhu Hassan. Kulia ni Mkurugenzi wa Uchaguzi Mhe. Kailima Ramadhani

 Wanahabari wa ndani na nje ya nchi wakirekodi tukio hilo la kihistoria

 Rais Mteule Dkt. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli akionesha hai ya Urais akiwa na Makamu wa Rais Mteule Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, Jaji Damian Lubuva na Mhe Kailima Ramadhani

 Rais Mteule Dkt. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli akionesha hai ya Urais akiwa na Makamu wa Rais Mteule Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, Jaji Damian Lubuva na Mhe Kailima Ramadhani

 Viongozi wakishuhudia tukio hilo kwa furaha

 Mwenyekiti wa Tume ya Taifa ya Uchaguzi Jaji Lubuva akisoma hati ya Makamu wa Rais

 Makamu wa Rais Mteule Mhe Samia Suluhu Hassan akipokea hati  yake

  Makamu wa Rais Mteule Mhe Samia Suluhu Hassan akionesha  hati  yake

 Rais Mteule na Makamu wake mteule wakipongezwa baada ya kukabidhiwa hati

 Rais mteule akipongezwa na waliokuwa wagombea wa Urais wa vyama vingine

 Rais Mteule Dkt Magufuli akimuonesha Mhe Anna Mghwira cheti cha Urais

 Rais Kikwete akimpongeza Rais Mteule

 "...Cheti ndiyo hiki...." anasema Rais Mteule kwa Rais Kikwete

 Wakikionesha cheti kwa furaha

 "....Huyu ndiye our new boss..." anasema Rais Kikwete

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais na kupeana mikono na Rais wa Zamani wa Nigeria Mhe Goodluck Jonathan

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais kwa mabalozi

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli akipita kuonesha cheti chake cha Urais

 Makamu wa Rais Mteule Mhe Samia Suluhu Hassan akipongezwa

 Mwenyekiti wa ACT-Wazalendo Mhe Anna Mghwira akiongea kwa niaba ya wagombea wengine wa vyama mbalimbali  walioshiriki kwenye kugombea Urais

 Wanahabari

 Rais Mteule akimpongeza Mhe Anna Mghwira kwa hotuba nzuri

 Rais Mteule Dkt John Pombe Magufuli katika picha ya pamoja na viongozi wa tume na vyama vya siasa

 Wateule na Tume ya Taifa ya Uchaguzi