Authorities accuse the 53 -year -old politician of high treason for alleged ties with the M23 rebel group supported by Rwanda.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) suspended the political party of former President Joseph Kabila and ordered the seizure of his assets, accusing the 53 -year -old man of high treason for alleged ties with Rwandans supported by Rwandans M23 rebellious group.
In a statement late Saturday, the country’s interior ministry said that the Kabila People’s Party for reconstruction and democracy (PPRD) had been suspended for its “ambiguous attitude” towards the occupation of the DRC territory by the M23.
The M23 rebellion has revived violence In the Eastern provinces rich in the DRC, where the conflicts anchored in the spill of the 1994 genocide of Rwanda and the fight for the control of minerals have persisted for decades.
The fighting killed thousands and moved hundreds of thousands of people, according to the United Nations. The M23 has also taken two important cities, Goma and Bukavu, in the east since the beginning of the year.
The president of the DRC, Felix Tshisekedi, accused Kabila of having prepared “an insurrection” and of supporting an alliance which includes M23.
In another press release, the DRC Ministry of Justice said Kabila and the assets of other party leaders would be seized after acts rising from high betrayal.
The two statements said the prosecutors had been invited to initiate proceedings against him, but no details of the accusations were given. It is understood that no official charge has yet been deposited.
There was no direct comment from Kabila, who governed the country from 2001 to 2019.
However, his spokesperson Barbara Nzimbi wrote on X that the former president would speak to the nation “in the coming hours or days”. PPRD secretary, Ferdinand Kambere, told the reuters news agency that the suspension was “a blatant violation” of the DRC Constitution.
The decision to suspend Kabila’s party follows information that he returned to the country after spending two years in South Africa. Kabila left the DRC before the last presidential election in 2023.
According to the Interior Ministry, he went to Goma, but his presence was not confirmed independently.
Kabila, a former military officer, came to power at the age of 29 after the assassination of his father, Laurent-Desire Kabila, during the Second Congo War.
He won elections in 2006 and 2011 which were tainted by allegations of fraud and human rights violations. After two years of fatal demonstrations and international pressure, he gave power to Felix Tshisekedi in 2019 – a transition welcomed as the first peaceful transfer of power since independence in 1960.
Earlier this month, Kabila said that his return was motivated by the desire to help resolve the country’s political and security crisis. In an interview with Jeune Afrique, he said that he hoped to “play a role in finding a solution after six years of full retirement and a year in exile”.
The suspension of the Kabila party came while peace talks between the DRC government and the M23 rebels, which were to take place in April, were postponed.
The UN and several regional governments accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 – an allegation strongly refused by the president of the country Paul Kagame.