Kabila Returns To Congo

On Friday, April 18, former DR Congo President Joseph Kabila reportedly arrived in Goma, fulfilling his promise to return to the country after six years of silence and exile.

In early March, President Kabila announced the suspension of his studies in South Africa to address the escalating crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The conflict, which has been ongoing for over three years, involves a government coalition engaged in a protracted struggle against the AFC/M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo. The rebels now control the strategic cities of Goma and Bukavu.

Kabila, whose family has accused the Congolese government of abuses, is expected to address the nation from the rebel-controlled capital of North Kivu province, RFI reported on Friday, citing sources close to the former president.

The immediate former president has previously accused his successor Felix Tshisekedi of mismanaging the security crisis and of bringing the vast country “close to imploding.”

Tshisekedi has previously accused Kabila of being behind the AFC/M23 rebels.

The residence of the former president in Kinshasa have recently been searched by security agencies, which his wife Marie Olive Lembe accused of “persecution.” She was quoted by RFI, saying the agencies “came looking for weapons.” “Generators, solar panels, vehicles… They took everything!”

The French radio said a seizure report by the military police confirmed the confiscation of several vehicles, batteries, generators, and a batch of solar equipment.

Kabila, who was based in South Africa and Zimbabwe, told Jeune Afrique on April 8 that he would be returning after having met with various presidents and former presidents in the region as well as Congolese politicians. He had said he would return to his country through the eastern part, which has been volatile for three decades.

“I decided to start with the eastern part, because there is danger there,” he told the French publication.

Kabila has recently voiced concern over the ongoing instability in DR Congo, emphasizing the importance of internal solutions to national problems.

He has emphasised that the conflict with the rebels, whom Tshisekedi alleges get support from Rwanda, can only be resolved by dialogue within the Congolese people.

He criticized Tshisekedi’s tendency to blame foreign actors for the crisis and outsourcing security by hiring European mercenaries and using foreign armies. He urges Congolese leaders and citizens to take responsibility in resolving the crisis.

Kabila left office in 2019 and had remained silent until February this year. Tshisekedi has accused Kabila of being behind the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) that is led by Corneille Nangaa, DR Congo’s former electoral chief. Kabila dismissed allegation in March saying that the conflict would be different if he was personally involved.

The conflict in eastern DR Congo escalated in January after the AFC/M23 rebels took control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, before seizing Bukavu the capital of South Kivu in mid-February.

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.