The ruling party of the Democratic Republic of Congo has launched a fierce rebuke against former president Joseph Kabila, urging him to stop interfering in national affairs and branding him a “Rwandan” with ties to the M23 rebel group.
The attack came on Sunday in response to a rare public address by Kabila, who on Friday accused President Félix Tshisekedi’s government of taking arbitrary actions against him. His remarks followed a Senate vote that stripped him of his parliamentary immunity — a step that could lead to charges of treason over alleged links to the Rwandan-backed M23 militia.
President Tshisekedi has accused Kabila of being behind the resurgence of the M23 group, which has seized large parts of eastern DRC near the Rwandan border — a region that has experienced chronic unrest for decades.
Speaking at the headquarters of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) in Kinshasa, the party’s secretary-general, Augustin Kabuya, dismissed Kabila’s legitimacy and claimed he was not Congolese. “Let him leave the Congolese alone. He, a Rwandan subject imposed upon us, has no business in our affairs,” Kabuya declared, accusing Kabila of supporting the rebel movement.
Kabuya also criticised Kabila’s record in power, asserting he had no moral authority to lecture on democracy, recalling the deaths of demonstrators during protests against his rule.
Kabila, who had remained largely silent since handing over power to Tshisekedi in 2019, said in his Friday address that he planned to travel soon to Goma — the key eastern city now under M23 control following a rapid advance by the militia earlier this year.
After stepping down, Kabila was made a senator for life, a title which granted him immunity from prosecution. However, in April, the justice ministry referred allegations against him to military authorities, prompting the country’s top military prosecutor to request the Senate remove his protections.
Despite legal experts expressing concerns about the process, the Senate — now dominated by Tshisekedi’s allies — voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to lift his immunity. Kabila’s speech came just a day later, breaking his long silence.
The development follows recent diplomatic momentum by Kinshasa, including efforts to engage the United States. Tshisekedi has reportedly offered access to the DRC’s vast mineral resources in exchange for Washington’s support in brokering a peace deal with Rwanda aimed at ending decades of conflict in the volatile eastern region.
