DR Congo’s Joseph Kabila defends his record and criticises Tshisekedi
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Kivumorningpost
Former DRC president Joseph Kabila defends his record and says he left the security situation largely under control in 2019, while criticising the management of his successor, Félix Tshisekedi. In an interview, he also recalls the conflicts, infrastructure and economic collapse he faced when he took office in 2001, Kivumorningpost reports.
Former Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) president Joseph Kabila says he left the country in 2019 with the security situation largely under control and accuses his successor, Félix Tshisekedi, of taking the country in the wrong direction. He also defended the roughly 600 reforms or laws adopted between 2006 and his departure from office, according to Kivumorningpost.
Joseph Kabila said his government had prioritised inter-Congolese dialogue and the formation of a government of national unity to reunify the country, rather than an exclusively military solution. He cited the Sun City negotiations in South Africa as a mechanism for ending conflicts.
The former head of state described the DRC in 2001 as a country weakened by wars, the presence of about seven foreign armies, the proliferation of armed groups, and the collapse of its infrastructure and economy. On 12 October, he took the lead of the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN), a political-military coalition that succeeded the Congo River Alliance (AFC).
His remarks came after Kinshasa accused Joseph Kabila on 17 October of preparing a generalised attack. They also follow public threats against the former president by the head of the Congolese Republican Guard, reported on 25 October. Kabila’s FRN rebels approach Uvira, in the east of the DRC.
