Members of the Congolese opposition coalition Lamuka, led by presidential candidate Martin Faluyu, have a conversation while waiting for a statement to be issued on the timing of the release of the presidential election results in Kinshasa, Congo, Saturday Jan. 5, 2019. Congo faces what could be its first democratic, peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960, but election observers and the opposition have raised numerous concerns about voting irregularities as the country chooses a successor to longtime President Joseph Kabila. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

KINSHASA, Congo | The night before the first expected results of Congo’s long-delayed presidential election, President Donald Trump deployed military personnel to Central Africa to protect U.S. assets from possible “violent demonstrations,” while the country’s influential Catholic church warned of a popular “uprising” if untrue results are announced.

Members of the Congolese opposition coalition Lamuka, led by presidential candidate Martin Faluyu, have a conversation while waiting for a statement to be issued on the timing of the release of the presidential election results in Kinshasa, Congo, Saturday Jan. 5, 2019. Congo faces what could be its first democratic, peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960, but election observers and the opposition have raised numerous concerns about voting irregularities as the country chooses a successor to longtime President Joseph Kabila. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Congo is challenged with what could be its first democratic, peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960. However, election observers and the opposition have expressed concern about voting inconsistencies as the country selects a successor to longtime President Joseph Kabila.

The initial results are expected on Sunday, and the United States and the African Union, among others, have urged Congo to release results that show the true will of the people. The U.S. has threatened sanctions against those who undermine the democratic process. Western election observers were not invited to observe the vote.

While Congo has been, for the most part, calm on and after the Dec. 30 vote, Trump’s letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said about 80 military personnel and “appropriate combat equipment” had deployed to nearby Gabon to support the security of U.S. citizens and staffers and diplomatic facilities. More will deploy as needed to Gabon, Congo or neighboring Republic of Congo, he wrote.

The U.S. has already ordered “non-emergency” government employees and family members to leave the country.

The Catholic church, a prominent voice in the heavily Catholic nation, caused surprise on Thursday by announcing that data reported by its 40,000 election observers deployed in all polling stations show a clear winner. According to regulations, only the electoral commission can announce election results, the church did not announce a name.

The electoral commission responded by saying the announcement could incite an “uprising.” In a letter to the commission on Saturday, seen by The Associated Press, the Catholic church dismissed the accusation that it acted illegally, saying its goal was to “make the electoral process credible” and stabilize the country.

Congo’s ruling party, which backs Kabila’s preferred candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, called the church’s attitude “irresponsible and anarchist.”

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