In a bold political maneuver making headlines across Africa tonight — former Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has re-emerged on the political stage, organizing an opposition summit in Nairobi, Kenya, where he called for what he described as a movement to “save the DRC.”
Kabila, who ruled the DRC for nearly two decades before stepping down in 2019, gathered a coalition of prominent opposition figures in the Kenyan capital earlier this week. Among them was former Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo, who himself was sentenced earlier this year to ten years of hard labor.
The group announced the creation of the “Save the DRC” movement — a coalition that denounces what they call President Felix Tshisekedi’s failure to manage the nation’s deepening crises. In a joint statement obtained by AFP, the opposition bloc accused the government of repression, arbitrary detentions, and politically motivated trials against its critics.
Meanwhile, the Congolese government in Kinshasa dismissed the Nairobi summit as a gathering of “fugitives and convicts.”
Speaking from Washington, Government Spokesman Patrick Muyaya described the event as “nostalgia for lost privilege,” adding that Nairobi had become, quote, “a capital of conspiracy against the DRC.”
Kabila’s renewed activism comes just weeks after he was sentenced to death in absentia by a Congolese military court on charges of treason and alleged collaboration with the M23 rebel group, which continues to occupy parts of the mineral-rich eastern Congo with reported Rwandan backing.
The 54-year-old former leader, who left the DRC in 2023, briefly resurfaced earlier this year in Goma, a city under M23 control — an appearance that raised tensions in Kinshasa and fueled speculation about his political comeback.
Analysts say the death sentence may have been politically motivated, intended to block Kabila’s influence and prevent him from uniting opposition forces at home.
Kabila first rose to power in 2001 after the assassination of his father, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, the rebel leader who overthrew longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. His return to the political scene, even from exile, could dramatically reshape the DRC’s already volatile landscape.
The Nairobi meeting also coincided with the Congolese government’s peace talks in Doha, where Kinshasa and the M23 signed a new agreement to establish a ceasefire monitoring mechanism — a move observers say contrasts sharply with Kabila’s renewed campaign of resistance.
As tensions rise both inside and outside the DRC, eyes are now on how this new opposition alliance — led from abroad — might influence the nation’s fragile peace and political balance.
Reporting by Ehud Jones.
