Joseph Kabila, who served as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2001 to 2019, has taken the leadership of a new politico-military movement that brings together the M23 rebel group and its political wing, the Congo River Alliance (AFC). The Front for the Refoundation of the Nation, known by its French initials FRN, was announced on Monday, 12 October 2026, at a press conference at Kabila's residence in Goma, the main city of mineral-rich eastern Congo, which the M23 has controlled since January 2025.
The FRN says its mission is to unite and coordinate all resistance forces "in order to put an end to tyranny, by any means necessary, including force." Claude Ibalanky, a coalition adviser and former roving ambassador for President Félix Tshisekedi, said the signatories had decided to pool their forces, resources and means so that Congolese people could work together to "liberate their country." He cited Article 64 of the Constitution, which makes it the duty of every Congolese to oppose anyone who seizes power by force or exercises it in violation of the Constitution. Kabila was named president unanimously. Corneille Nangaa, previously coordinator of the AFC, and Bertrand Bisimwa, previously president of the M23, become vice-presidents. General Sultani Makenga is chief of general staff, Freddy Kaniki is secretary-general and Benjamin Bonimpa is deputy secretary-general. The movement says further structures and announcements will follow.
Coalition member Moïse Nyarugabo directed a message at Tshisekedi: "If he wants peace, we are ready to grant it to him; if he chooses war, he will get that too." Tshisekedi's government had not commented at the time of reporting.
The move formalises a role that Kabila has long denied. A Congolese military court sentenced him to death in absentia in September 2025 on charges including treason and war crimes, naming him as one of the initiators of the AFC-M23. He rejected any link to the M23 and Rwanda and called the proceedings political. A June report by the UN Group of Experts had already noted a possible restructuring of the AFC/M23, including a name change and a leading role for Kabila.
The M23, a mainly ethnic Tutsi group, launched an uprising in the eastern Kivu region in 2012. The United Nations and Western governments accuse Rwanda of backing it; Kigali denies this. Eastern Congo has suffered violence for more than 30 years, and mediation efforts have repeatedly failed. A deal signed in December by Kinshasa and Kigali under US auspices has had no tangible effect on the ground, and a ceasefire committed to in July 2025 in Qatari-mediated talks is not being respected.
The announcement also comes amid political uncertainty in Kinshasa. Tshisekedi, 63, reaches the end of his second and final constitutional term in 2028, and the presidential majority has for several months been preparing public opinion for a possible amendment of the text. Kabila, 55, had rarely appeared in public since leaving office; his appearance in Goma marks a far more direct involvement in the insurgency.