DR Congo Orders Property Seizure, Legal Action Against Former President Kabila

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) government has “ordered” legal proceedings against former President Joseph Kabila and ordered the seizure of all his movable and immovable assets.

Authorities accuse Kabila of supporting and participating in armed conflict alongside M23 rebels.

In a communiqué released on Friday, April 18, the Congolese ministry of justice stated that it had directed the Auditor General of the DR Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) and the Prosecutor General at the Court of Cassation to begin legal action against Kabila for his alleged “direct participation” in the aggression carried out by the AFC/M23.

“Furthermore, movement restrictions have been imposed against all of his collaborators implicated in this case,” it went on.

Last week, Kabila’s wife, Olive Lembe, said she was facing persecution at the hands of the country’s security agencies.

Lembe, who married Kabila in 2006, continues to reside in DR Congo even though her husband has been in exile for over a year before his recent announcement that he is returning to the country.

“It is persecution that we are suffering from the security services and this regime,” Lembe said in an interview with local media.

Kabila said in early March that he had suspended his studies in South Africa to “deal with the worsening situation,” in eastern DR Congo, where a government coalition has been fighting the AFC/M23 rebels for over three years. The rebels now control the strategic cities of Goma and Bukavu.

On Friday, April 18, Kabila reportedly arrived in Goma, 10 days after he said he would return to the country after six years of silence and exile.

Since the beginning of 2025, the rebel alliance, which includes the M23 rebels, has gained more Congolese support, with a growing number of political leaders and businesspeople joining its cause.

Government soldiers and police forces, as well as a number of armed groups have joined the ranks of the rebels, who fight for the protection of Congolese Tutsi communities who have suffered decades of ethnic violence.

The AFC/M23 rebels also condemn widespread corruption and bad governance, which have rendered the mineral-rich country ungovernable.

The Congolese government and the rebels held direct talks in Doha, Qatar on April 10, the first of its kind since the M23 rebellion resurfaced in late 2021 after nearly a decade of hibernation.