Latest news with #Tshisekedi
Eyewitness News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Ex-leader Kabila back in DR Congo via M23-held city
GOMA - Ex-president Joseph Kabila was back in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday via Goma, an eastern city seized by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia whose lightning offensive the government accuses him of orchestrating. Putting an end to days of speculation over his return to the country, Kabila's appearance comes despite the former president facing the possibility of a treason trial over his alleged support for the M23. Felix Tshisekedi, his successor as the DRC's president, accuses Kabila of being the brains behind the armed group, which has seized swathes of the resource-rich Congolese east with Rwanda's help. A team of AFP journalists saw Kabila meet local religious figures in the presence of the M23's spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka, without giving a statement. Though Kabila left the DRC in 2023, the former leader still enjoys a certain influence over Congolese political life, and has criticised his successor's government as a "dictatorship". Shorn of his usual beard and dressed in a dark suit, the 53-year-old, who led the DRC between 2001 and 2009, appeared visibly relaxed in front of the cameras. Access to the residence was guarded by fighters from the M23 and members of his security service. A member of Kabila's entourage told AFP that though no formal alliance existed between his party and the M23, both shared the "same goal" of ending Tshisekedi's rule. Kabila's visit also comes after the ruling party warned him to stay out of Congolese affairs, with the DRC locked in talks with the United States and Rwanda aimed at ending the fighting. In the wake of Kabila's previous announcement in April of his return to the country, which he later denied, the Congolese authorities suspended his political party and raided several properties belonging to him. 'DICTATORSHIP' For more than three decades, the eastern DRC has been ravaged by conflict between various armed groups, which has intensified since the M23's resurgence in 2021. Following a lightning offensive, the armed group captured the key eastern cities of Goma and Bukavu at the beginning of 2025, setting up to govern for the long term in the regions under its control. While he was out of the country Kabila's entourage remained tight-lipped over his whereabouts. Then, the former president in April announced his imminent return to the DRC via the conflict-hit east, much of which is under the control of the M23. Accusing him of conspiring with the Rwanda-backed militia, the justice ministry in April referred the case against Kabila to the military courts. In turn, the army's top prosecutor urged the Senate to vote to lift his immunity as senator for life, to allow his prosecution for treason, war crimes and crimes against humanity. That vote passed on May 22 in the upper house, where Tshisekedi's ruling coalition enjoys an overwhelming majority, opening the way for his prosecution for treason, war crimes and crimes against humanity. 'DICTATORSHIP' The day after losing his immunity to prosecution, Kabila broke his silence, lashing out at the Congolese authorities for the "arbitrary" push to target him. In that speech to the Congolese people, Kabila, who took power following his father's assassination in 2001, promised to visit Goma "in the coming days" to help broker an end to the fighting. In large part, the army prosecutor's case against him hinges on testimony by opposition figure Eric Nkuba. Under questioning, Nkuba claimed to have overheard Kabila advise the M23's leader to remove Tshisekedi by coup rather than by assassination. Given the severity of the accusations against him, Kabila could even face the death penalty. The DRC lifted a moratorium on capital punishment in 2024, though no execution has yet been carried out.
France 24
4 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
Former DR Congo president Kabila visits rebel-held Goma
DR Congo 's former president Joseph Kabila met with local leaders in Goma, a city controlled by the M23 rebels, on Thursday, according to journalists in eastern Congolese city near the border with Rwanda. A team of AFP journalists saw Kabila meet local religious figures in the presence of the M23's spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka, without giving a statement. On Wednesday, three people close to Kabila told Reuters had arrived in Goma over the weekend. Kabila's visit comes despite the former president facing the possibility of a treason trial over his alleged support for the Rwandan-backed M23. Last week, the DR Congo's Senate voted to strip Kabila's immunity, thereby enabling his prosecution. Felix Tshisekedi, Kabila's successor as the Democratic Republic of Congo's president, accuses Kabila of being the brains behind the armed group, which has seized swathes of the resource-rich Congolese east with Rwanda's help. Kabila's visit to Goma could complicate a US-backed bid to end the M23 rebellion in eastern Congo, which contains valuable minerals that US President Donald Trump 's administration is keen to help mine. The 53-year-old's visit comes after the DR Congo's ruling party warned him to stay out of Congolese affairs, with the Congolese government locked in talks with the US and Rwanda aimed at ending the fighting. Kabila, who denies accusations that he supports the M23 insurgency, agreed to step down following protests and external pressure in 2018 after almost two decades in power. He has been out of the country since late 2023. 'Kabila is not Congolese' A day after the Senate voted to lift his parliamentary immunity, Kabila blasted the current government's "dictatorship" and said he would be visiting Goma "in the next few days". In a rare speech streamed live on the internet, Kabila took aim at Tshisekedi and his government. "Following a simple rumour from the street or social networks, about my alleged presence in Goma, where I will be going in the next few days... the regime in place in Kinshasa took arbitrary decisions with disconcerting levity, which testifies to the spectacular retreat of democracy in our country," Kabila said. Tshisekedi's party hit back the next day, saying the "Rwandan" should stop meddling in the country's affairs. "Kabila is not Congolese," Augustin Kabuya, Secretary-General of Tshisekedi's Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) insisted in a speech Sunday at the party's headquarters in Kinshasa. "Let him leave the Congolese to deal with their own problems. He, a Rwandan subject whose rule was imposed on us, must leave the Congolese alone," Kabuya added, accusing him of leading the M23. Kabuya said the former president "has nothing to teach us when it comes to democracy", referring to people killed by the authorities during protests against Kabila's rule.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Congo ex-president Kabila visits rebel-held Goma for talks, associates say
(Reuters) -Congolese former president Joseph Kabila has arrived in the rebel-held eastern city of Goma for talks with locals, three people close to him told Reuters, a month after declaring he wanted to help end the crisis in the war-ravaged region. If confirmed, the visit could complicate a U.S.-backed bid to end a rebellion by the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group in eastern Congo, which contains valuable minerals that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is keen to help mine. Kabila, who has denied accusations by Kinshasa that he supports the M23 insurgency, agreed to step down following protests and external pressure in 2018 after almost two decades in power. He has been out of the country since late 2023, mostly in South Africa. The three people said the former president will begin holding consultations on Wednesday with citizens in Goma, which fell under the control of M23 in January during an advance that has seen the group seize more ground than ever before. The people close to Kabila said he had arrived in Goma on Sunday night. Corneille Nangaa, leader of the rebel alliance that includes M23, has also said on social media that Kabila is in Goma, though Kabila himself has not spoken and no images of him in Goma have been published. The reported visit follows a vote in the Senate in Kinshasa last week overwhelmingly in favour of lifting his immunity from prosecution over his alleged links to M23. Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said in a briefing aired on state television Tuesday that Kabila was "positioning himself as the rebel leader" along with Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Kabila is wanted in Congo for alleged crimes against humanity for supporting the insurgency in the east, including a role in the massacre of civilians. Congo has also moved to suspend his political party and seize the assets of its leaders. In a speech on Friday evening, Kabila said Congo's justice system was being "openly exploited for political ends" and was "nothing more than an instrument of oppression" for President Felix Tshisekedi's government. PUSH FOR PEACE Kabila, who came to power in 2001 after his father's assassination, clung to office following Congo's disputed 2018 election for almost two years through an awkward power-sharing deal with Tshisekedi. Tshisekdi cut him out at the end of 2020 by chipping away at his influence and accusing him of blocking reforms. The two men's relationship has since soured to the point that, as M23 marched on east Congo's second-largest city of Bukavu in February, Tshisekedi told the Munich Security Conference that Kabila had sponsored the insurgency. 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. The United Nations and Western governments say Rwanda has provided arms and troops to M23. Rwanda denies backing M23 and says its military has acted in self-defence against Congo's army and a militia founded by perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Congo's Former President Returns Home, Accused of Treason
A former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo has returned to the Central African country after years in self-imposed exile, according to one of his advisers, days after the country's Senate accused him of treason. The Senate said the former president, Joseph Kabila, had supported a militia that has captured swaths of Congolese territory this year — an allegation that could lead to his prosecution. Yet he remains beyond the government's reach, even after returning to his country. The senate voted to prosecute Mr. Kabila, who led Congo for 18 years, in Kinshasa, the capital. For his re-entry into Congo, Mr. Kabila chose Goma, a city 1,000 miles to the east, where the government is powerless. Goma was captured in January by M23, a militia backed by Rwanda, Congo's neighbor. M23 is the militia Mr. Kabila is accused of supporting. Mr. Kabila's return to Congo, which leaders of M23 also confirmed, comes as the United States is trying to broker a peace agreement between Rwanda and Congo, and simultaneous minerals deals with both countries. The presence in the country of Mr. Kabila, who still wields considerable influence, could complicate these efforts. In a video address posted on his social media last week, Mr. Kabila accused his successor, President Felix Tshisekedi, of being a dictator. In Congo's 2018 presidential election, Mr. Kabila's chosen candidate to replace him decisively lost, and it appeared as if a prominent critic of the president and opposition politician, Martin Fayulu, had won. But amid allegations of widespread fraud, another opposition candidate was declared the winner — Mr. Tshisekedi, who proceeded to enter into a power-sharing agreement with Mr. Kabila's party. That alliance came to an abrupt halt a year later when Mr. Tshisekedi said sharing power was blocking his agenda for reform. Since then, Mr. Kabila has mostly maintained silence — until this year, when he began signaling his desire to re-enter Congolese politics. His motivation for returning to Congo at this moment is not known, and a spokesman traveling with him did not respond to a request for comment. On his arrival in Goma, Mr. Kabila was given an effusive welcome by M23's political leader, Corneille Nangaa. Mr. Nangaa, a politician turned rebel who lately dresses in military fatigues and regularly excoriates Mr. Tshisekedi, is the same man who, in a previous political life, was president of Congo's Independent National Electoral Commission when it first declared Mr. Tshisekedi president.
Korea Herald
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Congo ruling party urges ex-leader Kabila to 'leave the Congolese alone'
KINSHASA, Congo (AFP) -- Congo President Felix Tshisekedi's party hit back Sunday at criticism from the country's former leader Joseph Kabila, saying the "Rwandan" should stop meddling in the country's affairs. Kabila, in his first speech to the Congolese people since leaving office in 2019, on Friday denounced "arbitrary moves" by Kinshasa against him, a day after the Senate voted to lift his parliamentary immunity. That move paved the way toward a treason trial over the 53-year-old's alleged links with the Rwandan-backed M23 militia. Tshisekedi has said Kabila is behind the assault by M23 in the east of the country. M23 fighters have seized swaths of the resource-rich east of the country near the border with Rwanda, a region plagued by conflict for more than three decades. "Kabila is not Congolese," Augustin Kabuya, Secretary-General of Tshisekedi's Union for Democracy and Social Progress insisted in a speech Sunday at the party's headquarters in Kinshasa. "Let him leave the Congolese to deal with their own problems. He, a Rwandan subject whose rule was imposed on us, must leave the Congolese alone," Kabuya added, accusing him of leading the M23. Kabuya said the former president "has nothing to teach us when it comes to democracy," referring to people killed by the authorities during protests against Kabila's rule. In his speech on Friday, Kabila said he would soon visit Goma, a key eastern Congolese city the M23 seized at the beginning of the year following a lightning offensive. After stepping aside for Tshisekedi in 2019, Kabila gained the honorary title of senator for life, and with it parliamentary immunity. Following his announcement of his grand return via the conflict-hit east, the justice ministry in April referred the case against Kabila to the military courts. In turn the army's top prosecutor urged the Senate -- dominated by Tshisekedi's ruling coalition -- to lift Kabila's parliamentary immunity to allow his prosecution for his alleged support of the M23. Although constitutional experts questioned the procedure, that vote passed by an overwhelming majority late on Thursday, with Kabila breaking his long silence the following day. His intervention came after a series of diplomatic breakthroughs by Kinshasa in talks to end the fighting. Tshisekedi has reached out to the United States, offering access to Congo's rare minerals in return for Washington's backing in negotiations with Rwanda to put an end to the more than three-decade conflict.
