Former DRC president Kabila to lead new group replacing AFC/M23

Congo's former president, Joseph Kabila, is taking the helm of a new political-military platform: the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation, or FRN.

Announced on Monday in Goma, eastern DRC, the coalition brings together key figures from the AFC/M23 anti-government forces and positions itself in opposition to the Kinshasa government.

"The mission of the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation is to unite and coordinate all resistance forces in order to put an end to tyranny—by any means necessary, including force—and to chart a new course and create new prospects for the country," coalition advisor Claude Ibalanky said at a press conference on Monday.

M23 leaders Corneille Nangaa and Bertrand Bisimwa have been appointed vice-presidents, Sultani Makenga is Chief of General Staff, and Freddy Kaniki is Secretary-General. Benjamin Bonimpa has been named Deputy Secretary-General.

The government of DRC's President Félix Tshisekedi has not yet commented.

"The signatories have decided to pool their forces, resources, and means to create a framework for action through which all Congolese people, acting in unison, will undertake the task of liberating their country," Ibalanky said.

The creation of the FRN comes amidst a realignment of forces opposed to the Congolese leadership.

In a June report, the UN Group of Experts had already noted a potential restructuring of the AFC/M23, involving a name change and a leading role for Joseph Kabila.

"Today, the message to Tshisekedi is that he must make a choice," coalition member Moïse Nyarugabo said on Monday. "If he wants peace, we are ready to grant it to him; if he chooses war, he will get that too."

Kabila was sentenced to death in absentia last year by a Congolese court on charges including treason and war crimes. The former president denied any ties to the M23 and Rwanda and denounced the proceedings as a political trial.