The DR Congo government on Friday accused former president Joseph Kabila of planning a “general attack” after he teamed up with Rwandan-backed armed group M23 to take on government forces.
Kabila “has decided to formalise his widespread attack against the Republic,” government spokesman Patrick Muyaya told AFP, adding that “the choice to take up arms means killing Congolese in order to try to conquer territories”.
“They want to launch a movement to give themselves a new face, but in reality the intentions, the macabre plans, the modus operandi are known,” Muyaya said in an interview.
“The players remain the same, the nature of the movement remains the same,” he added.
Kabila on Monday joined forces with the M23 to head a new outfit, taking a more direct role in the insurgency ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo’s volatile east.
The new group — the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN) — was presented as a “politico-military” outfit that will “pool their strengths, resources and means” with the aim of “putting an end to tyranny by any means, including force.”
It will be headed by Kabila with M23 leaders serving as deputies.
Kabila was condemned to death in absentia a year ago for “complicity” with the M23.
The 55-year-old Kabila, who ruled from 2001 to 2019, is accused by Congolese authorities of being an initiator of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), the now dissolved political wing of the M23.
Kabila has denied the allegations.
After several years outside the country, Kabila reappeared in May 2025 in the major eastern city of Goma that is now controlled by the M23. He has since made regular visits to rebel-held territory.
In early 2025, an offensive led by the M23 and the Rwandan army in the eastern DRC resulted in the capture of Goma and Bukavu.
Since then, the front line has stabilised, though fighting continues — at times intense, involving drone strikes and artillery barrages — particularly in South Kivu province.
Kabila’s return to the political scene comes at a volatile time.
Opposition rallies in June and September protested against a proposed constitutional amendment that could pave the way for a third term for the current president, 63-year-old Felix Tshisekedi.
Tshisekedi, who succeeded Kabila, reaches the end of his second and constitutionally last five-year term in 2028.
The main opposition coalition has so far kept its distance from Kabila.
Kabila however has expressed support for the opposition. In a speech posted online Friday, he criticised the government for being “motivated solely by its own perpetuation in power”.
AFP