Joseph Kabila, the former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has attributed the increasing unrest in the eastern part of the nation to the inadequate governance of his successor, President Felix Tshisekedi. He mentioned this in an opinion piece that appeared in the Sunday Times of South Africa.
Kabila argued in his piece that the current turmoil cannot be solely blamed on the advances of the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group or the tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali.
The M23 rebel group has quickly taken over extensive areas in the mineral-rich eastern DRC, raising concerns that the conflict could spread beyond national borders.
Since taking office in 2019, Kabila asserts that the situation in the DRC has deteriorated to a point where it is “on the verge of collapse.”
He characterized the December 2023 elections, which saw Tshisekedi re-elected in a landslide, as a “fraud,” accusing the government of crushing political opposition and enabling the president to become the “absolute ruler of the nation.”
Kabila pointed to intimidation, arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings, and the forced exile of politicians, journalists, and religious leaders as hallmarks of Tshisekedi’s regime.
He also warned that violations of the constitution and human rights, as well as the ongoing massacres of Congolese people by Tshisekedi’s security forces, will continue, even if negotiations between the DRC and Rwanda are successful or if M23 is lost in battle.
Kabila stressed that ignoring these underlying issues and focusing solely on the M23 would lead to continual political instability, armed conflict, and potentially civil war.
He insisted that any attempt to resolve the crisis that ignores its root causes—mainly the governance of the DRC by its present leadership—will fail to achieve lasting peace.
The M23, claiming to protect the rights of the Tutsi minority in the DRC, revived its military activities in 2021, two years after Tshisekedi’s election.
South Africa has contributed over 1,000 troops as part of a 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission to assist the DRC government in stabilizing the area.
Last month, fourteen South African soldiers were killed in the conflict.
