Congolese general Germain Katanga joins Joseph Kabila’s front
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Umuseke
Brigadier-General Germain Katanga, a former militia leader in Ituri, reportedly joined the Front des nationalistes et intégrationnistes (FRN), a movement led by Joseph Kabila, on 29 October 2026. A former Congolese armed forces officer, Katanga was convicted by the International Criminal Court of crimes linked to the attack on Bogoro, according to Umuseke.
Congolese Brigadier-General Germain Katanga has joined the Front pour la refondation de la nation (FRN), the armed movement led by former president Joseph Kabila against Félix Tshisekedi’s government, Umuseke reports. News of Katanga’s entry into the FRN began circulating on Thursday 29 October 2026.
Katanga, who was born in Ituri in 1978, led the Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri (FRPI) from 2003. He was incorporated into the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) in 2004, before being arrested in 2005 and transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2007 over his alleged role in crimes committed in Ituri.
The ICC sentenced him in 2014 to 12 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the 2003 attack on Bogoro, in which around 200 civilians were killed. His move follows that of other FARDC officers and comes as Joseph Kabila leads a new armed coalition against Tshisekedi. The Congolese president again called on 28 October for support for the fight against Kabila’s armed alliance.
