Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged re-elected Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi to embrace peace and unite his country.
In his congratulatory message, Uhuru who is the African Union-Kenya Peace Envoy and Facilitator of the East African Community-led Nairobi Peace Process said peace is the foundation of any prosperous nation.
“Peace and unity are the foundations of a prosperous country,” he said.
As of Saturday, Tshisekedi had garnered around 72 per cent of the votes during elections held on December 20, 2023. At least 17.8 million votes have been counted.
He now awaits confirmation by the country's electoral commission.
Tshisekedi, 60, has been in power since January 2019 and is running for a second five-year term.
Moise Katumbi, a former governor of Katanga province, is second with 18.9 per cent.
President Tshisekedi faced 18 candidates as he sought a second term.
Some 44 million people were eligible to cast their ballots, following a campaign dominated by worsening conflict in the mineral-rich east.
On Thursday, Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo clashed with opposition supporters demanding that the presidential poll be annulled.
Leading opposition candidates denounced the election as a sham and demanded a rerun.
The opposition has also accused the electoral commission of orchestrating fraud and ballot stuffing in order to pave the way for Mr Tshisekedi to be declared the winner.
The commission has denied the allegations.
Voters also chose parliamentary, provincial and municipal representatives, with about 100,000 candidates in total.
The elections were not held in parts of the east because of insecurity.