Joyous dancing erupted in the streets of the Democratic Republic of Congo‘s capital to celebrate the surprise victory of opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi, who was declared winner of the long-delayed, disorganised and controversial presidential election.

“Today I am happy,” said Mr Tshisekedi. “Happy for you, my base. Happy for the people of Congo. Everyone is celebrating that there is peace. No one could imagine the scenario where an opposition candidate could be victorious!”

However, rival opposition candidate Martin Fayulu claimed the results had been rigged by outgoing president Joseph Kabila who made a backroom deal with Mr Tshisekedi.

Along with diplomats and observers, Mr Fayulu has claimed that Mr Kabila may have negotiated with Mr Tshisekedi to prevent an anti-corruption crusader from winning.

Mr Tshisekedi, who received 38 per cent of the vote according to the electoral commission’s results, had not been widely considered the leading candidate and is relatively untested. Long in the shadow of his father, the now deceased opposition leader Etienne, Mr Tshisekedi startled Congo shortly before the election by breaking away from the unified opposition candidate, Mr Fayulu, to stand on his own.

Mr Fayulu quickly denounced Mr Tshisekedi’s victory as fraud. The results were an “electoral hold-up” that were “rigged, fabricated and invented” and do “not reflect the truth of the ballots”, he said.

Speaking to the press shortly after the results, Mr Fayulu called on the Congolese people to “rise as one man to protect victory”.

Mr Fayulu, a former Exxon manager and Kinshasa politician, received 34 per cent of the vote in the electoral commission’s results. He claims he won a majority of the votes and he was deprived of victory because a deal was made with Mr Tshisekedi.

“How long are we going to negotiate results?” said Mr Fayulu. “In 2006, Jean-Pierre Bemba’s victory was stolen, in 2011 Etienne Tshisekedi’s victory was stolen. In 2018 victory won’t be stolen from Martin Fayulu.”

Mr Fayulu urged the Catholic Church to release the results from its team of 40,000 observers who recorded voting tallies posted at each of the polling centres. Last week, the church said their observations showed a clear winner, and many say that was Mr Fayulu.

Several diplomats briefed on the matter said the figures compiled by the Catholic Church showed Mr Fayulu won an absolute majority of the votes. Two diplomats also said all major observation missions, including from the African Union and the Southern African Development Community, showed similar results with Mr Fayulu the winner. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the press.

Mr Kabila’s government made a deal with Mr Tshisekedi to declare him the winner, as hopes faded for ruling party candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, who received just 23 per cent of the official results. The constitutional court has 14 days to validate the results.

A children's crisis: Violence and insecurity in Congo Show all 7 1 /7 A children's crisis: Violence and insecurity in Congo A children's crisis: Violence and insecurity in Congo Therese Mulopo and her 4-month-old baby, Mbombo Marth, at Saint Martyr health centre in the city of Kananga. They have come for a one-day nutrition screening session at the Unicef-supported health facility, which provides free treatment for malnourished children. ‘During the clashes, our family found refuge a few kilometres away from a relative. But we didn’t have something to eat every day,’ says Mulopo, who also has two older children (ages five and six). ‘Our children became ill and so they were treated with traditional herbs and leaves. But the diseases, mainly diarrhoea, didn’t stop. With my husband, we used to be farmers. Before, we grew and ate rice and beans but now there is nothing there, because we could not sow any seeds last year. So there is nothing to harvest now. So, we are staying with my sister here. My only wish is to see my children eat and grow up healthy.’ Unicef/Tremeau A children's crisis: Violence and insecurity in Congo Ngalula Badiendele and her children. None of Ms Badiendele’s four children have an appetite, and the two children in her arms, son Kajunga (left), 17 months old, and daughter Tshipala (right), three, are both malnourished. ‘We had to leave to the bush when the clashes broke out. We walked for one day and then built a shelter. We stayed there for one month. When we heard the security was better we came back but soon fights happened again. And we had to leave again to the forest, where we stayed again for one month. Life was not easy at the time. It still isn’t. I just hope peace will come back so my family will live like we used to,’ Badiendele says. Unicef/Tremeau A children's crisis: Violence and insecurity in Congo Ntambwe (who does not know her exact age) holds her brother, Nalula Kelende, three. ‘I brought my brother Nalula to the health clinic because he suffers from malnutrition. My mother is working in the field,’ Ntambwe says. ‘We come from Dibaya [a small town]. When clashes happened, we had to walk during three days to reach Tshikaji. Since the violences, we only eat cassava and, if my parents find some money, we can sometimes buy wheat to cook food. But we often sleep with empty stomachs. All incomes from the harvests are not sufficient this year to cover all the family expenses. Nothing could be sowed this year, so there is nothing to eat anymore. I had to stop school last year because of the clashes. Since then I couldn’t go back because my family doesn’t have enough to buy me a new uniform. I would like to become a nurse one day so I could help sick children just like my brother.’ Unicef/Tremeau A children's crisis: Violence and insecurity in Congo Muya Kapuku and his three-year-old daughter, Chosa, and his malnourished four-year-old son, Muhipay. ‘When insecurity started in Kananga, I took refuge in the bush of Mutoto Village with my family. Food conditions were terrible,’ Kapuku says. ‘We only eat tubers, fufu [a staple food in parts of West and Central Africa] and cassava leaves, once a day preferably in the evening; and these conditions have not changed yet. I lost my job as a sentry where I earned a little money and became unemployed since my return so far. I fear to lose my two children who are malnourished, but fortunately, they benefit from free nutritional care in this health centre. I wish the peace to come back in our province and to have a good job that will allow me to support my household and educate my children.’ Unicef/Tremeau A children's crisis: Violence and insecurity in Congo Bertine Kabedi, 14, and her one-year-old daughter, Bakatuseka. “I came to the health centre because it’s been a month that my daughter doesn’t eat well,” Bertine says. ‘I come from a place called Dibaya. When violence broke out there I fled to Tshikaji to seek refuge. Unfortunately, violence started also in Tshikaji, and so I had to flee to the bush. I lived with my three-month-old newborn during two months in the bush before we came back a month ago. Life wasn’t easy in the forest, there was nothing to eat. Now I would like to set up a small business so I could feed my baby. I had to stop school a few years ago because my parents didn’t have enough to pay for school fees. I want to send my kid to school one day, but if the ongoing troubles continue I know it will be impossible.’ Unicef/Tremeau A children's crisis: Violence and insecurity in Congo Bakena Mukendi, cradling her malnourished daughter, one-month-old Bakatjika, waits with her 28-month-old son, Manatshitua, outside the Saint Martyr health centre. ‘I am a mother of six children,’ Mukendi says. ‘When violence broke out, we had to flee with the whole family to the forest. We stayed there for two months, eating cassava only and palm oil. All my children fell sick then. They suffered from fever and diarrhoea. We had to cure them with traditional health care with tree leaves. I came back four months ago to Tshikaji. Before, I had a small shop, but I lost everything when we ran away – all my savings. My husband now does small jobs so all the family can survive. Despite our situation and small incomes, I am proud to have sent all my children to school, because I know how important education is for their future.’ Unicef/Tremeau A children's crisis: Violence and insecurity in Congo Tshiela Masengu brings in her malnourished grandson Jean, four, to the health centre. ‘My daughter was killed when clashes happened in April 2017, leaving behind her six orphans that I took care of. Jean’s father died a few years ago already,’ Masengu says. ‘During the fights, we took refuge in the forest with all six kids. We stayed there for weeks, without any food. This is when Jean fell sick. That’s why I brought him to the centre, because he suffers from malnutrition. I want him to be better, but I am worried about what tomorrow will bring. I have a small coconut business, but it is not enough to support the family. But I am proud to have sent the two oldest ones (11 and eight) to school this year. I would like all of them to go to school one day. This conflict took away my daughter from me, and destroyed the future of my grandchildren. I would like it to end now.’ Unicef/Tremeau

Happy demonstrators in Kinshasa, however, showed no signs of wanting to challenge Mr Tshisekedi’s victory. Many said they were delighted pleased with Mr Tshisekedi’s win and to see Mr Kabila step down.

“This is the coronation of a lifetime,” the deputy secretary-general of Mr Tshisekedi’s party, Rubens Mikindo, said shortly after the announcement that his candidate had won, above the cheers at party headquarters. “This is the beginning of national reconciliation.”

The election may enable Congo to achieve its first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960. Mr Kabila has ruled since 2001 in the troubled nation rich in the minerals key to smartphones around the world and has amassed vast wealth. He is barred from serving three consecutive terms, but during more than two years of election delays many Congolese feared he would find a way to stay in office.

Attention now turns to Congo’s powerful Catholic Church and whether it will dispute the official results.

If the church finds Mr Fayulu won, “how will the population react?” Stephanie Wolters, analyst with the Institute for Security Studies, posted on Twitter. She added: “[Will the African Union] consider a power transfer ‘enough’ or will they push for investigation and real result?”

A supporter of Felix Tshisekedi, newly elected Congolese president, celebrates in the streets of Kinshasa (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

The delayed results, nearly two weeks after the 30 December vote, came after international pressure to announce an outcome that reflected the will of the people. The United States threatened sanctions against officials who rigged the vote.

The largely peaceful election was marred by the malfunctioning of many voting machines Congo used for the first time. Dozens of polling centres opened hours late as materials went missing. And in a last-minute decision, some 1 million of the country’s 40 million voters were barred from participating, with the electoral commission blaming a deadly Ebola virus outbreak.

Defiantly, tens of thousands of voters in one of the barred communities held their own ballot on election day. Mr Fayulu won easily.

Congo’s government cut internet service the day after the vote to prevent speculation on social media. As the electoral commission met this week, anti-riot police moved into place outside.

Some Congolese, weary of Mr Kabila’s 18-year rule, two turbulent years of election delays and years of conflict that killed millions of people, said they simply wanted peace. Some said they would be happy as long as Mr Fayulu or Mr Tshisekedi won, while recalling the violence that followed past disputed elections.

Many Congolese objected to Mr Shadary, suspecting Mr Kabila would continue to rule from behind the scenes.

Now Congo faces a new leader who is little known after spending many years in Belgium and living in the shadow of his outspoken father.

The 56-year-old Mr Tshisekedi took over as head of Congo’s most prominent opposition party in early 2018, a year after his father’s death.