Former Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) president Joseph Kabila has joined a new political-military coalition challenging his successor, President Felix Tshisekedi, in a move that has raised fears for peace efforts in the country's war-torn east. The coalition, the Front pour la Refondation de la Nation (Front for the Refoundation of the Nation, FRN), was announced on Monday evening in Goma, the main city of North Kivu province, which has been under control of the M23 rebel group and its political partner, the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), since January last year.
The FRN, led by Kabila, replaces the existing AFC-M23 alliance and brings together figures and forces linked to both movements. It accuses Tshisekedi of tyranny and calls for resistance by all means, including force. As Kabila returns to centre stage, political leaders in Kinshasa, the capital, are being pushed to choose sides, according to French broadcaster France 24.
The conflict has displaced millions of people and drawn in neighbouring countries. Its roots stretch back decades and include regional rivalries, unresolved security concerns and competition for territory and mineral resources. The aftermath of Rwanda's 1994 genocide helped fuel wars across the region. M23 says it took up arms because the Congolese government failed to honour earlier commitments. The Congolese government and international actors accuse Rwanda of backing the group, which Kigali denies, citing security threats from armed groups operating in eastern Congo.
Kabila came to power in 2001 after the assassination of his father, Laurent-Desire Kabila, and was elected in 2006 and 2011. Elections due at the end of his second term in 2016 were delayed, and critics accused him of trying to stay in office beyond the constitutional limit. Protests were met with deadly violence before a compromise led to the December 2018 vote. Tshisekedi took office in January 2019 in the country's first peaceful transfer of presidential power through elections.
Reaction has been strongly critical. Vital Kamerhe, a former speaker of the National Assembly and leader of the Union for the Congolese Nation, told the movement's leaders: "You cannot erase your own record by accusing your successor," urging them to choose dialogue over weapons. In Goma, resident Basa Juhudi said Kabila's knowledge of the country means "the war is far from over".
The development comes as the United States and Qatar pursue separate diplomatic tracks. In Doha, the Congolese government and AFC-M23 have discussed a ceasefire, the return of refugees, the release of detainees and curbs on rhetoric stigmatising ethnic minorities. Washington has pushed for a DRC-Rwanda agreement covering the neutralisation of the FDLR, a armed group with roots in the Rwandan genocide, and the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from Congolese territory.
The FRN says it will honour the AFC's commitments, including those made in Doha. Freddy Kaniki, one of its leaders, said the FRN succeeds the AFC "by right". Human rights activist Josue Akuzwe Walayi warned the agreements risk becoming "yet more agreements without any real peace" without accountability. How the pledge translates into progress toward a ceasefire remains unclear.