Congo-Kinshasa: former president Kabila to lead new movement with M23 rebels

Former DR Congo president Joseph Kabila will lead a new political-military movement with the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group which controls swathes of the country’s violence-wracked east.

The Kabila-M23 tie-up was presented at a joint press conference at Kabila’s residence in Goma, the major city in eastern Congo that the armed group has controlled since January 2025.

Kabila was condemned to death in absentia a year ago for “complicity” with the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group.

The 55-year-old Kabila, who ruled from 2001 to 2019, is accused by Congolese authorities of being one of the initiators of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), the now dissolved political wing of the M23.

The announcement of Kabila’s new alliance comes amid an uncertain political climate in the Democratic Republic of Congo. President Felix Tshisekedi, 63, Kabila’s successor, will reach the end of his second and final five-year term in 2028.

The Congolese Constitution sets a limit of two five-year terms. Yet for several months, the presidential majority has been preparing public opinion on amending the text.

Eastern DRC has been plagued by violence for over 30 years with several attempts at mediation having failed so far.

A deal signed in December by Kinshasa and Kigali, under the auspices of Washington, has had no tangible effect on the ground.

Meanwhile, in July 2025, Kinshasa and the M23 committed, as part of a Qatari-mediated process, to a ceasefire that is not being respected.

Source: AFP