The Democratic Republic of Congo has banned former President Joseph Kabila’s party, accusing him of having links to the M23 rebel group that has occupied much of the country this year.
The ban comes after reports of Kabila returning to the country after spending two years in South Africa.
He is said to have returned to Goma town, which was caught in January by Rwanda-backed M23.
Kabila inherited his father Laurent, who led the Congo doctorate for 18 years after being shot and killed in 2001. Joseph Kabila was only 29 years old at the time.
A statement from the Ministry of Interior said all activities of the Kabira PPRD party were banned because it was “ambiguous” in the M23 occupation of Congolese territory.
It also noted that Kabila chose to return to Goma, where he was protected by the “enemy.”
PPRD has not commented yet.
On Friday, the government charged Kabila, 53, with treason and ordered all of her property to be seized.
Kabila had previously denied having connections with M23. He has not commented on the latest moves of the Congolese government or confirmed that he has returned to the Congolese PhD.
However, he did say earlier this month that he would return to the country. Senior PPRD officials denied Kabila is currently in Goma.
On Saturday, his spokesman Barbara Nzimbi posted on X that Kabila will speak to the country in the coming hours or days.
Asked by the BBC Great Lakes, a M23 spokesman neither confirmed nor denied Kabira’s presence in Goma, saying: “I can’t see any questions about him here.”
Who is Joseph Kabila?
He won the election twice after he was sworn in as president after his father passed away. His second and last term officially ended in December 2016, but he refused to step down, saying it was impossible to organize the election, leading to deadly protests.
He lasted for another two years until the final election was held in 2018.
In January 2019, he handed over the power to the official winner of the controversial election Félix Tshisekedi, which many election observers say was correctly won by Martin Fayulu.
He accused Kabila and Tshisekedi of agreeing to the agreement to exclude him from power – both of them denied that.
However, the relationship between the two worsened, and their party alliance officially ended in December 2020.
Kabila left her PhD in Congo in 2023 to study in South Africa.
In January 2024, his doctoral dissertation on the geopolitics of Africa’s relations with the United States, China and Russia was verified at the University of Johannesburg.
Why did Kabila return?
In a written statement announcing its upcoming return, Kabila said it was out of a desire to resolve the institution and worsening security crisis in the Congolese Doctorate.
He also told French magazine Jeune Afrique that he wanted to “play a role in finding solutions after six years of complete retreat and exile”.
However, Ben Radley, a political economist and lecturer at Bath University’s International Development, noted that Corneille Nangaa, the leader of the political group including M23, is the head of the election committee under Kabila and is a “close ally.”
“In addition, the historical continuity with his father, Laurent Kabila, also entered Congo from the East in the late 1990s, eventually heading to the presidency in his final March, which is also the idea of many Congolese people.”
Other reports by Alfred Lastek & Didier Bikorimana
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