Kinshasa, (EFE).- The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) suspended the political party of former President Joseph Kabila and ordered the seizure of his assets, accusing him of supporting the M23 rebel group, an armed faction backed by Rwanda and active in eastern Congo.
In separate statements released late Saturday, the DRC’s Ministry of Interior announced the suspension of Kabila’s People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) over alleged collaboration with M23.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice said it would pursue legal action against Kabila and other party leaders for acts of “high treason.”
Justice Minister Constant Mutamba also ordered the confiscation of all movable and immovable assets belonging to Kabila and PPRD leaders.
He imposed travel restrictions on party members allegedly involved in what authorities described as a “high treason” case against the nation.
Kabila ruled the DRC from 2001 to 2019 before stepping down after elections.
In 2023, he moved to South Africa in self-imposed exile but returned to Congo on Friday, entering through Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, an area currently under the control of the M23 rebels.
His return followed an April announcement in which he cited the “deteriorating security situation” in eastern Congo as the reason for ending his exile.
Congolese government forces and allied militias are engaged in ongoing clashes against M23 in the region.
The Ministry of Interior cited Kabila’s “ambiguous” stance regarding what Kinshasa calls the “occupation” of eastern DRC by Rwandan forces and M23 rebels.
Authorities criticized his decision to re-enter the country through Goma, where, they claimed, rebels were “curiously guaranteeing his security.”
“This decision is based on the proven activism of the PPRD’s moral authority in Rwanda’s war of aggression, as well as the culpable and even complicit silence of the party,” the Ministry said.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya reiterated accusations made in February by President Félix Tshisekedi, who claimed Kabila had links to the Congo River Alliance (AFC), the political wing of the M23 insurgency.
“The President of the Republic had already said it: his predecessor was linked to the M23,” Muayaya stated. “Today, we know who the enemy is and who their accomplices are.”
The conflict in eastern Congo escalated sharply in January, when M23 fighters, allegedly supported by Rwanda according to the United Nations, the US, Germany, and France, seized Goma and Bukavu, the capitals of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, respectively.
The fighting has displaced approximately 1.2 million people across the two provinces, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
M23, a rebel movement composed primarily of Tutsis, an ethnic group targeted during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, resumed military operations in North Kivu in Nov. 2021.
Since then, the group has made significant territorial gains, raising fear of a broader regional conflict.
Eastern Congo has been mired in violence since 1998, driven by competition over natural resources and fueled by a patchwork of rebel groups and government forces, despite the ongoing presence of the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO). EFE
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