21 Jan 2019; AFP: African nations on Sunday began recognising Felix Tshisekedi as DR Congo's incoming president after the Constitutional Court upheld the vote results, rejecting claims by his main rival of an election stitch-up.
The 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) along with Kenya have congratulated Tshisekedi and called for a peaceful handover of power.
After the court dismissed runner-up Martin Fayulu's call for a recount as "absurd", Tshisekedi was declared the winner with 38.5 percent of the vote, paving the way for him to take over from the country's longtime leader Joseph Kabila.
The 55-year-old should be sworn into office on Tuesday, according to his entourage.
It would mark the first peaceful transfer of power from one president to another in the Democratic Republic of Congo since independence from Belgium in 1960.
The African Union, which had expressed "serious doubts" about the election figures, said on Sunday it has "taken note" of the court's ruling and postponed sending a high-level delegation to Kinshasa.
The dispute over the election has raised fears of fresh bloodshed in the vast and volatile central African nation, but calls by Fayulu to protest did not lead to large demonstrations.
"SADC calls upon all Congolese to accept the outcome, consolidate democracy and maintain a peaceful and stable environment," its chairman Hage Geingob, president of Namibia, said in a statement
"The SADC reiterates the need to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC,"
Hundreds of Tshisekedi's supporters celebrated by blowing whistles and horns near his party headquarters in the capital Kinshasa, where the atmosphere was otherwise calm on Sunday.
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