[2] Félix Tshisekedi of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress won the presidency with 38.6% of the vote, defeating Martin Fayulu of the Dynamic of the Opposition and independent candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary.

[4] Tshisekedi was sworn in as the fifth president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 24 January 2019, the first peaceful transition of power in the country since its independence from Belgium in 1960.

They were, however, postponed for a week on 30 December 2018 due to a fire in the electoral commission's warehouse in Kinshasa destroying 8,000 electronic voting machines.

[14] On 10 January the commission declared Félix Tshisekedi, leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress opposition party, the winner of the election.

[16][17] The country's influential Roman Catholic Church, which deployed 40,000 election monitors, has also said the official result does not align with its observations, which place Fayulu as the winner.

Because of this Tshisekedi's ability to implement policies or appoint a new Prime Minister were limited, and while negotiations have been ongoing to form a new government the President has been working with the former cabinet of Kabila.

[6] An agreement reached with the opposition in December 2016 allowed Kabila to stay in office with a requirement to hold elections by the end of 2017.

[38][39] According to Human Rights Watch, government security forces used live rounds to disperse crowds of opposition supporters throughout August 2018, stating that the total death toll by then since 2015 was 300 people.

HRW also documented attempts by the Congolese government to persecute members of the opposition, such as banning Moïse Katumbi from entering the country and forcefully dispersing a rally in support of Jean-Pierre Bemba.

[58] A March 2018 poll carried out by the CRG showed Katumbi obtaining 26%, Tshisekedi with 14%, Adolphe Muzito and Kamerhe tied at 9%, Kabila with 7%, and Augustin Mataya Ponyo and Aubin Minaku with 3% each.

[62][63] The signal of Radio France Internationale, the country's most popular news source, was also blocked with a spokesman stating that the restrictions were implemented by Congolese authorities to prevent the spread of "fictitious results" published on social media and maintain order.

[13][64] The following day, representatives of the U.S., European Union, Swiss and Canadian missions in Kinshasa urged the DRC to restore Internet access.

"[70] Nshole also said that the church now would trust Kabila to lead any transition of power, claiming "he insisted on the fact that he wants to maintain peace and unity...we want the same.

"[70] On 4 January, United States President Donald Trump deployed 80 U.S. troops to the nearby country of Gabon to stand by in case violence broke in the DRC over the election results.

[77] That same day, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and other members of SADC urged the Congolese government to finalize the results quickly.

[78] In the early morning of the following day, 10 January 2019, after reading the results of over 700 candidacies for provincial elections from across the country, the commission announced Felix Tshisekedi as the winner of the presidential vote.

[15] Barnabé Kikaya bin Karubi, an advisor to Joseph Kabila, had said that the President accepted the loss of the ruling party candidate Emmanuel Shadary.

[84] A joint investigation by the Financial Times and Radio France Internationale appeared to reveal that massive fraud occurred during the election.

FT claimed on 15 January that its analysis of two separate collections of voting data — one from an anonymous person close to Fayulu who said they had obtained it with the help of a whistleblower, representing about 86% of votes cast, and another from the Episcopal Conference (CENCO), which represents all Congolese bishops and fielded 39,824 observers on election day — showed Fayulu as the clear winner of the election.

[85][86][87] According to the Congo Research Group (CRG), the CENI leak was provided to several journalists by members of the opposition close to Fayulu, who all claimed they obtained it with the help of a whistleblower.

A data analyst from one of the media companies concluded that fabricating the entire dataset would have been extremely difficult without detection when using Benford’s Law.

[87] Whatever the case, only a comprehensive audit could've confirmed whether there was indeed massive fraud but as of 16 January 2019, the CENI has not published any disaggregated data beyond the national number of votes.

[80] More civilian and police casualties were reported as protests increased across the country, and thousands of military and Republican Guard troops were deployed to maintain order.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders also doubted the result, saying that Belgium would use its temporary UN Security Council seat to investigate the situation.

[92] In an official statement, Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres urged all parties to "refrain from violence" and "live up to their responsibility in preserving stability.

[80] The Southern African Development Community (SADC) called for the creation of a national unity government in DR Congo, a negotiated settlement by factions representing Kabila, Tshisekedi, and Fayulu, on January 13.

[93][94] The United Nations Security Council issued a statement drafted by the French delegation urging all sides to respect the outcome of the vote on 15 January.

[105] On January 23, the United States agreed to support the court's certification of Tshisekdi's victory and also work with the incoming DRC President's government as well.

[108] The Court ruling rejected appeals for a recount, with the verdict declaring Tshisekedi "President of the Democratic Republic of Congo by simple majority.

[25][26][27][121] On July 27, 2019, more than six months after the election the President and the parliament came to an agreement on forming a new government, beginning Ilunga's formal nomination process for prime minister.