Tshisekedi accuses Joseph Kabila of being Rwandan rebellion’s proxy
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Citizen Digital
Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi accuses his predecessor Joseph Kabila of serving as Rwanda’s proxy in the rebellion being waged with the M23 in eastern DR Congo. He says Kigali pushed him to take direct charge of the offensive against Kinshasa, according to the Congolese presidency.
President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Félix Tshisekedi accused his predecessor Joseph Kabila of being a Rwandan proxy in the rebellion ravaging the east of the country. He said Rwandan President Paul Kagame had asked Joseph Kabila to take charge of the offensive, during a speech broadcast on Tuesday by the Congolese presidency, according to Citizen Digital.
Félix Tshisekedi called Joseph Kabila a “big coward” and said his return to the field showed the military and political difficulties facing his camp. The former president has joined the March 23 Movement (M23), a rebellion supported by Kigali according to Kinshasa, and is to lead the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN), with M23 officials as his deputies.
The FRN says it wants to end “tyranny by all means”, including through force. Joseph Kabila, who led the DRC from 2001 to 2019, was sentenced to death in absentia a year earlier for treason, with the authorities accusing him of collusion with the M23. The rebel group has controlled vast areas of the mineral-rich east of the Congo since 2021.
Fighting continues despite a truce negotiated with US assistance in December. Opposition parties rejected Félix Tshisekedi’s calls for national dialogue but nevertheless distanced themselves from Joseph Kabila after the creation of the FRN. This position comes after the Congolese C64’s rejection of armed rebellion, announced on 28 October.
