Goma, DR Congo – Ex-president Joseph Kabila on Thursday made his first appearance since returning to the Democratic Republic of Congo in Goma, an eastern city seized by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia whose lightning offensive the government accuses him of orchestrating.
Ending days of speculation over his return, 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 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.
Though Kabila left the DRC in 2023, the former leader still has influence over Congolese political life, and has criticised his successor’s government as a “dictatorship”.
AFP journalists saw Kabila meet local religious figures in the presence of the M23’s spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka. He made no statement.
Shorn of his usual beard and dressed in a dark suit, the 53-year-old, who led the DRC between 2001 and 2009, appeared smiling and 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 had been brokered 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.
– ‘Restore peace’ –
According to his entourage, Kabila plans to consult traditional leaders and civil society figures in coming days, before making a speech.
“His wish is for peace to be restored,” bishop Joel Amurani told AFP after the talks with Kabila.
For more than three decades, 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.
The former president in April caused surprise by announcing his imminent return to the DRC via the conflict-hit east, much of which is under the control of the M23.
No concrete evidence of his presence ever emerged.
Yet after the announcement, the Congolese authorities suspended his party and raided several properties belonging to him.
Accusing him of conspiring with the Rwanda-backed militia, the justice ministry referred the case against Kabila to the military courts.
The army’s top prosecutor has urged the Senate 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.
– ‘Dictatorship’ –
The day after losing his immunity, Kabila broke his silence, lashing out at the Congolese authorities for the “arbitrary” push to target him.
In a speech to the Congolese people Kabila, who took power following his father’s assassination in 2001, accused Tshisekedi of bad governance and “tyranny”.
He 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.
© Agence France-Presse
