In Kinshasa’s lush Botanical Garden, the scene was set to celebrate the election of the man Joseph Kabila had chosen to replace him as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary’s face beamed from yellow and blue banners, some emblazoned with the words “Shadary President.” Soda bottles were piled up in a corner as Kabila’s ruling coalition tallied results of that day’s election at a nearby hotel. Within hours of polls closing on Dec. 30, the planned festivities at the gardens were abruptly called off. As the results poured in from observers and thousands of electronic voting machines, it became clear to Kabila’s camp that opposition leader Martin Fayulu had won by a decisive margin, diplomats and Congolese sources with direct knowledge of the events said. Fraught discussions began in Kabila’s team over whether to engineer a win for Shadary, a former interior minister, or anoint a different opposition candidate who might be willing to protect the political and financial interests of Kabila and his associates, the sources said. A week later, the electoral commission announced the election had been won by Felix Tshisekedi. Fayulu said he was a victim of fraud and the Catholic Church, which had a 40,000-strong team of election observers, rejected the official result. Aides to Kabila, who succeeded his slain father in 2001, and Tshisekedi denied there was any tampering with the election results, as did the head of the commission charged with overseeing the poll. Published in Daily Times, January 19th 2019.