Congo candidate to challenge results

KINSHASA, Congo — Congo runner-up Martin Fayulu announced Friday that he will file a court challenge to the presidential election results, while his opposition coalition asserted he actually received 61 percent of the vote according to the findings of the influential Catholic Church’s observers.

Fayulu spoke to hundreds of supporters who gathered in the capital, Kinshasa, to denounce what they called “the people’s stolen victory.”

A heavy police presence was on hand. A businessman and vocal campaigner against Congo’s widespread corruption, Fayulu accuses outgoing President Joseph Kabila of making a backroom deal with the declared winner, largely untested opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi.

The Catholic Church, the rare authority that many Congolese find trustworthy, has said its 40,000 election observers in all polling stations found a different winner from the official results but it has not given details. Diplomats briefed on the findings say they found Fayulu won easily.

The church’s findings showed Tshisekedi received just 18 percent of the vote, just ahead of ruling party candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, Fayulu’s coalition asserted.

Fayulu urged that Congo’s electoral commission publish detailed results, polling station by polling station, and said he would file his court challenge today.