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Muscat Daily
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Muscat Daily
Is Joseph Kabila's return to Congo a game changer?
Kinshasa, DRC – The Congo River Alliance (AFC) and M23 rebel groups claim Joseph Kabila is in Goma, beyond the reach of Congolese government forces. Kabila, who served as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) head of state from 2001 to 2019, was once a strong ally of incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi. But Kabila recently made headlines after publicly criticising a decision by Tshisekedi's government to remove his immunity from prosecution, despite being declared a 'senator for life' when he stood down in 2019. Tshisekedi's administration has also ramped up verbal attacks on the former president, with Augustin Kabuya, secretary-general of Tshisekedi's Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), declaring 'Kabila is not Congolese' but rather a 'Rwandan subject'. Some political observers have said Kabila's reemergence in a rebel-held area could jeopardise existing mediation efforts spearheaded by religious leaders. However, Elodie Ntamuzinda, a conflict resolution expert, told DW that sidelining Kabila is counterproductive. 'We encourage the authorities to be able to approach him and that he, too, be open to talks. We believe that the general interest comes first, and we need each other,' Ntamuzinda said. Tresor Kibangula, political director at the Kinshasa-based Ebuteli research institute, described Kabila as a shadow power the government is trying to keep at bay. As the son of the late Congolese President Laurent-Desire Kabila, who opposed the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, Joseph Kabila spent much of his youth in Tanzania before becoming a military leader in his father's rebel Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL) in the late 1990s. It is widely believed that Kabila's ADFL rebel group included 'kadogos' (Kiswahili for child soldiers), and when the ADFL ousted Mobutu's regime in 1997, the young Kabila gained further military training abroad before taking up a senior position in the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC). Kabila's tumultuous presidency Laurent Kabila's assassination on January 16, 2001, thrust his son Joseph Kabila, who was just 29 years old at that time, into the presidency. He was reportedly reluctant to be president of the vast mineral-rich country, which was in the midst of the devastating Second Congo War. The conflict broadly pitted pro-government forces and international allies like Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia against Rwandan-backed fighters, who had taken over large territories in the eastern DRC. The 2002 Sun City Agreement technically ended the fighting and paved the way for Congo's first democratic election. Kabila won the 2006 election and would lead the Congo until 2018. He tried to keep a stable government, but accusations of incompetence, cronyism and corruption dogged his tenure. Despite relative successes like opening up the country to foreign investors and growing the economy, most Congolese remained below the poverty line. At the same time, the nation's mineral wealth was extracted and shipped out of the country to benefit trade partners. Reelection in 2011 saw Kabila retain power, but his list of enemies grew, and rebel groups such as the Rwandan-backed M23 reappeared. Protests against Kabila's governance and self-enrichment rumours were often violently quashed. When Kabila's term ran out in 2016, he delayed the elections until 2018 and became more unpopular at home and abroad. In addition, the security situation in Congo, despite the presence of multinational forces like SADC and MONUSCO, was becoming untenable. In 2019, Kabila handed over power peacefully to Felix Tshisekedi, although observers expressed distrust in the validity of the election results. Kabila then seemed to retreat from politics. But in 2020, the pair fell out, and the coalition between their political parties ended. Since 2023, Tshisekedi's regime has accused Kabila of siding with the M23. Consequently, Tshisekedi banned Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy, and ended his immunity from prosecution, which he had enjoyed as a former president. Is Kabila's influence waning? Kabila's relationship with the Congolese government deteriorated further in 2025. 'There is no strong popular nostalgia for Kabila in the country today,' said political analyst Kibangula. Nevertheless, Tshisekedi has ramped up accusations, saying Kabila was plotting an 'insurrection' with the M23. He has regularly named him the architect of the M23's military success in eastern Congo. In a recent online video address, 53-year-old Kabila broke his silence publicly for the first time after losing his immunity. 'The dictatorship must end, and democracy and good economic and social governance must be restored,' he said. He criticised Tshisekedi's leadership for corruption, undermining democracy and mishandling the violent conflict in the eastern DRC. Deo Bizibu, a member of Tshisekedi's ruling UDPS, accused Kabila of hypocrisy. 'This is a pyromaniac trying to pass himself off as a fireman,' Bizibu told DW, adding that Kabila had spent six years pulling strings, seeking to return to power. 'He should understand that his time is up.' Conflict analyst Philippe Doudou Kaganda told DW that Congolese unity is at stake with Kabila's return. 'We're going to get bogged down in conflict again, and it's going to take on a dimension that's much more internal than external,' he said. 'There's a risk that the discourse around Rwanda will be stifled.' Tshisekedi's government has sought to blame incursions from Rwanda as the cause of instability in eastern Congo. Rwanda has denied the allegations, arguing that the Congolese must handle their security challenges. DW
Al Jazeera
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
DR Congo suspends ex-President Kabila's party over alleged M23 links
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has suspended the political party of former President Joseph Kabila and ordered the seizure of his assets, accusing the 53-year-old of high treason over alleged ties to the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group. In a statement late on Saturday, the country's Interior Ministry said Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) was suspended for its 'ambiguous attitude' towards the M23's occupation of DRC territory. The M23 rebellion has reignited violence in DRC's mineral-rich eastern provinces, where conflict rooted in the spillover from Rwanda's 1994 genocide and the struggle for control of minerals has persisted for decades. The fighting has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of people, according to the United Nations. The M23 has also taken two important cities, Goma and Bukavu, in the east since the start of the year. DRC President Felix Tshisekedi has accused Kabila of preparing 'an insurrection' and backing an alliance that includes M23. In another statement, the DRC's Justice Ministry said Kabila and other party leaders' assets would be seized after acts amounting to high treason. Both statements said prosecutors had been instructed to initiate proceedings against him, but no details of the accusations were given. It is understood that no formal charges have yet been filed. There has been no direct comment from Kabila, who ruled the country from 2001 to 2019. However, his spokesperson Barbara Nzimbi wrote on X that the former president would address the nation 'in the coming hours or days'. PPRD secretary Ferdinand Kambere told the Reuters news agency the suspension amounted to 'a flagrant violation' of the DRC's constitution. The move to suspend Kabila's party follows reports that he has returned to the country after spending two years in South Africa. Kabila left the DRC before the last presidential election in 2023. According to the Interior Ministry, he has travelled to Goma, but his presence there has not been confirmed independently. Kabila, a former military officer, came to power at the age of 29 following the assassination of his father, Laurent-Desire Kabila, during the Second Congo War. He won elections in 2006 and 2011 that were marred by allegations of fraud and human rights abuses. After two years of deadly protests and mounting international pressure, he handed power to Felix Tshisekedi in 2019 – a transition hailed as the country's first peaceful handover of power since independence in 1960. Earlier this month, Kabila said his return was driven by a desire to help resolve the country's political and security crisis. In an interview with Jeune Afrique, he said he hoped to 'play a role in seeking a solution after six years of complete retreat and one year in exile'. The suspension of Kabila's party came as peace talks between the DRC government and M23 rebels, due to take place in April, were postponed. The UN and several regional governments have accused Rwanda of supporting M23 – an allegation strongly denied by the country's President Paul Kagame.
Al-Ahram Weekly
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
EU to impose sanctions over M23 offensive in DR Congo - Africa
The EU is set to impose sanctions on around 10 individuals over the offensive by the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group in Democratic Republic of Congo, diplomats said Friday. M23 forces have seized large swathes of the mineral-rich eastern DRC -- including the main cities of Goma and Bukavu -- in the face of limited resistance from Congolese forces. Diplomats did not specify if the sanctions -- set to be formally imposed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers Monday -- will include Rwandan officials accused of fuelling the fighting. United Nations experts have said Rwanda effectively controls the M23 and has at least 4,000 troops fighting alongside the group. But Kigali has denied involvement in the conflict and says it faces a threat from ethnic Hutu fighters in the DRC. Belgium has been spearheading the push to punish Rwanda over the violence, which includes calls to block a minerals deal, or suspend development aid and support for Kigali's peacekeepers in Mozambique. The fighting in recent weeks has raised fears of a repeat of the Second Congo War, from 1998 to 2003, which drew in multiple African countries and resulted in millions of deaths from violence, disease and starvation. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al Jazeera
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
‘People need a break': DRC conflict reignites dark memories of Congo wars
In parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), communities are gearing up for war or fleeing to safety amid the advance of M23 rebels, who captured the key eastern cities of Goma and Bukavu in recent weeks, leaving devastation in their wake. The rebel group, which the United Nations says is backed by neighbouring Rwanda, has also closed in on Walikale, a major mining hub, while Kinshasa's offer of a $5m reward for the capture of M23 leaders has not slowed the group down. While M23 marches on in North and South Kivu, Ugandan troops have intensified deployments across their border with the DRC in Ituri province, only a few hours from the rebel-held regions. The Ugandan army says it is battling the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) – two of several dozen armed groups operating in the DRC. A recent flare-up of CODECO attacks on civilians in February saw at least 51 people killed, prompting Uganda to send additional soldiers to boost its 5,000-strong deployment inside the DRC. For political observers, the growing presence of both Rwandan and Ugandan soldiers in the DRC is an eerie replay of a painful past, one they fear could again lead to a bigger, regional war if not contained. 'We are indeed seeing a replica of the Second Congo War with the same actors but in slightly different configurations,' analyst Paul Nantulya of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies told Al Jazeera, referring to the leading roles both countries played in what's now referred to as the 1998 'Great Africa War' when Rwandan and Ugandan troops invaded the DRC. Several African countries also followed suit, backing either the DRC or the Rwandan-led side, as well as dozens of local militias on either end. The result was a humanitarian crisis that saw an estimated five million deaths; the DRC looted of mineral resources like gold; and the emergence of dozens of armed groups, including the M23. At the time, thousands across the globe protested against the atrocities in the DRC, calling for an end to the looting and killings. Today, illegal mining and smuggling from the DRC's mines – which provide 70 percent of the global supply of coltan and cobalt that powers electronics – have largely continued, as have deaths and displacements due to armed group activity. 'Appetite for political negotiations is low and international pressure and coercive measures have not had the deterrent effect they once had in previous bouts of crisis,' Nantulya added, referencing the European Union's suspension of military aid support to Rwanda, and United States sanctions on key Rwandan army officials. A history of interference The DRC has been in the throes of low-level violent conflict for more than three decades. In that time, more than six million people have been killed, and millions more displaced. A complex mix of issues is to blame, among them: grievances by Kigali that the DRC harbours anti-Rwanda rebels who fled after the Hutu genocide against the Tutsis in 1994; ethnic tensions between Congolese Tutsis and their neighbours; a grab for mineral resources in insecure eastern DRC; and corruption in the Congolese government. Rwanda's invasion of the DRC prompted both the First and Second Congo Wars (1996-1997 and 1998-2003), as Kigali claimed to be pursuing Hutu genocidaires who had fled across the border. After President Paul Kagame's army took power in Rwanda in 1994, the fleeing Hutu groups amassed in refugee camps in the DRC where they launched renewed attacks on Tutsis. Uganda, where Kagame and his troops trained for years before taking power in Kigali, joined Rwanda's side in the DRC. Both countries then backed a Congolese rebel group, led by Laurent Kabila, to unseat the dictator, President Mobutu Sese Seko. Mobutu, at the time, had many regional enemies. Several countries backed Kabila by sending arms or weapons, including Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea and South Africa. However, when Kabila, upon gaining power in 1997, switched sides and ordered Rwandan and Ugandan troops out of the DRC within a day, Kigali grew vengeful. In 1998, Rwanda and Uganda invaded again, sponsoring a Tutsi militia that occupied resource-rich parts of eastern DRC. Kabila managed to rally other African nations to his side, including Namibia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Chad and Angola, which had now switched sides under a new government. The UN deployed a peacekeeping force, MONUSCO. Kabila also enlisted the help of Hutu militia groups in eastern DRC, deepening ethnic tensions with Congolese Tutsis who are perceived as pro-Rwanda. Looting and rights violations The Congo wars ended in 2003, but low-intensity violence persists, leading some experts to say it was never actually over. Several reports in the aftermath, including from the UN, accused Rwanda and Uganda of targeting Hutu civilians and of looting and smuggling DRC's coffee, diamonds, timber, coltan and other resources. Relatives of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, including his younger brother Salim Saleh and Saleh's wife, Jovia Akandwanaho, were named as the operators of companies involved in trading illicit items, especially during the second war. Congolese politicians and soldiers were also implicated. 'Natural resource exploitation became increasingly attractive, not only because it enabled these groups to finance their war efforts but also because, for a large number of political/military leaders, it was a source of personal enrichment. Natural resources thus gradually became a driving force behind the war,' one UN report read. It also accused 'foreign buyers willing to handle these goods', including traders in the DRC and multiple countries. In 2005, Anvil, an Australian-Canadian mining company, was accused of providing logistics to the Congolese army that helped it violently suppress a small uprising in southern DRC. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) found Kampala guilty of 'violating international law' in 2022 and ordered Uganda to pay $325m to the DRC for losses and damages during the wars. Kampala has begun instalment payments and is expected to complete them by 2027. Although the DRC also sued Rwanda, the ICJ could not rule in that case because Rwanda did not recognise its jurisdiction. In the most recent legal battle in 2023, the DRC again sued Rwanda at the East African Court of Justice in Arusha, Tanzania, arguing that by backing M23 rebels, it violated Kinshasa's territorial integrity against international law. That case is still ongoing. Rwanda has repeatedly denied supporting M23. 'DRC needs a break' Countries that took part in the Congo wars are once again in the DRC. And again, a Congolese politician is marching on Kinshasa, this time Corneille Nangaa, leader of the rebel Congo River Alliance (AFC). A one-time elections commissioner, Nangaa fell out with Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and then allied with M23 in December 2023. He now leads the AFC-M23 coalition. However, Accra-based analyst Kambale Musuvali of the Center for Congo Research, told Al Jazeera that interference from DRC's closest neighbours never stopped. 'When we say Uganda and Rwanda are in the Congo again, it is from the perspective that they left and they are returning,' Musavuli, who is Congolese, told Al Jazeera. In reality, the two governments had continuously maintained a hold on the situation in the DRC, he said. Across the continent, it's fairly clear where most parties stand in this iteration of the conflict: Rwanda's support for M23 is documented by the UN, which says about 3,000 Rwandan troops are currently supporting the rebels. Burundi, under President Evariste Ndayishimiye – who has frosty relations with Kagame – deployed at least 10,000 troops to support the DRC army. South African troops lead the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the DRC and have been fighting the M23 alongside Malawian and Tanzanian soldiers since January. Angola and Kenya are leading two separate peace negotiations, while Chad is considering a request from Kinshasa to deploy troops. Uganda, though, appears to be the wild card. The country was last year implicated by the UN of providing support to M23 by allowing its territory to be used for launching attacks, and areas the Ugandan army currently occupies in the DRC are so close to M23-held areas that analysts believe there could be some collusion. But Kampala denies any connections with M23. 'Uganda is the big elephant in the room,' analyst Nantulya said. Kampala, he added, is playing an ambiguous balancing act, working to secure a part of the DRC, while committing to not standing in M23's way on the other hand. DRC's resources also remain a focal point in this conflict. So far, M23 has taken over vast expanses of North and South Kivu, which is home to massive gold and cobalt deposits. There's speculation that the DRC's gold has been funding the armed group, which has surprised analysts with its high-grade weaponry and telecommunications systems. The UN estimates that M23 earns about $800,000 monthly from illegal gold sales. Ending the protracted crisis would involve a large-scale effort by African countries to get both sides to negotiate, analysts say, but also to put pressure on the DRC government itself to fix its internal affairs: Tshisekedi suffers a legitimacy crisis as Congolese popularly rejected elections that brought him into a second term. Weaknesses and ingrained corruption in the country's military may have helped Congolese defences to falter as M23 advanced. And feelings of marginalisation are still heavy in Congolese-Tutsi communities, worsening tensions. Kinshasa's recent calls for a national dialogue, in addition to peace talks led by regional parties, are important steps, Musavuli said. So is the recent visit by International Criminal Court prosecutor, Karim Khan, who pledged to prosecute all sides accused of rights violations in the conflict, including indiscriminate killings and sexual abuse of civilians, he added. 'I usually get asked, 'What about the Rwandan government? What about the Ugandan government?' But nobody is talking about the [Congolese] people,' Musavuli said. 'We're saying that the people of the Congo have to be alive so that they can rebuild the country for the benefit of the African continent. That's why DRC needs a break. Not just for themselves, but for the entire African continent.'
Voice of America
02-03-2025
- Politics
- Voice of America
Ugandan army deploys to town in northeast DR Congo
The Ugandan army confirmed Sunday it has sent troops to another town in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo to fight local armed groups, amid fears a raging conflict could spiral into a wider war. "Our troops have entered Mahagi town, and we are in control," Uganda's defense and military affairs spokesperson Felix Kulayigye told AFP Sunday. The deployment was requested by the Congolese army following alleged massacres of civilians carried out by a militia known as the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO), he said, without providing further details. Mahagi is in Ituri province, which borders Uganda, where at least 51 people were killed on February 10 by armed men affiliated with CODECO, according to humanitarian and local sources. CODECO claims it defends the interests of the Lendu community, mainly composed of farmers, against the Hema community, who are mainly herders. Uganda already has thousands of troops in other parts of Ituri under an agreement with the Congolese government. Last month, Uganda announced its troops had "taken control" of the provincial capital, Bunia. Ituri is just north of the provinces of North and South Kivu, which at the end of January fell under the control of the anti-government M23 armed group, which the DRC says is backed by neighboring Rwanda. A claim that Kigali denies. Analysts fear that Uganda and Rwanda's growing presence in eastern DRC could lead to a repeat of the so-called Second Congo War, which lasted from 1998 to 2003, involving many African countries and resulting in millions of deaths from violence, disease and famine.
