Ex-president Kabila calls DRC justice system 'instrument of oppression'
Kabila has for weeks said he will return to DRC to help find a solution to the crisis in the east, where Rwandan-backed M23 rebels now control large swathes of territory.
Speaking on Friday from an undisclosed location — for security reasons, according to his team — Kabila said DRC's sovereignty and territorial integrity were non-negotiable.
'As a soldier, I swore to defend my country to the supreme sacrifice ... I remain more faithful than ever to this oath,' he said.
A return to DRC by Kabila could complicate the bid to end the rebellion in eastern DRC, which contains vast supplies of critical minerals that US President Donald Trump's administration is keen to access.
Washington is pushing for a peace agreement to be signed this summer, accompanied by minerals deals aimed at bringing billions of dollars of Western investment to the region, Massad Boulos, Trump's senior adviser for Africa, told Reuters earlier this month.
Kabila came to power in 2001 after his father's assassination. He refused to stand down when his final term officially ended in 2016, leading to deadly protests, before he agreed to leave office after an election in 2018.
Reuters
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