Former President of the DRC, Joseph Kabila is now facing charges of treason after the Senate voted overwhelmingly to lift his immunity. The move follows allegations that he provided support to the M23 rebel group, currently engaged in armed conflict in the country’s eastern regions.
In a session held Thursday at the People’s Palace in Kinshasa, 88 senators voted to lift Kabila’s immunity, with 5 opposing and 3 abstaining. The Senate’s decision allows him to be tried for treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and participation in an insurrectionary movement.
A special Senate commission presented a detailed report accusing Kabila of aiding an insurrection through links with M23 and its political wing, the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC). The report cites testimony from ERIC NKUBA a co-founder of the AFC, who claimed he personally witnessed a phone call between Kabila and AFC-M23 leader Corneille NANGAA YOBELUO in Kampala.
According to the commission, Kabila is accused of backing efforts to overthrow constitutional institutions in collusion with a foreign power and of supporting an armed group responsible for grave violations of international humanitarian law.
In a statement released Friday, Kabila rejected the Senate’s decision as politically motivated. “This action, orchestrated in haste and without respect for institutional balances, is not an act of justice. It is a desperate political manoeuvre in a context of widespread panic at the highest levels of the State,” he said.
“I take note of the senate’s decision to lift my immunities. To those who believe that lifting my immunities will erase their failure: you are mistaken. The truth is not voted on. It imposes itself. And it will come.”
Kabila insisted that he does not require immunity to face the accusations and warned that those targeting him now should be prepared to account for their own actions in the future.
The legal proceedings against the him were initiated last month by Justice Minister Constant Mutamba, following Kabila’s unannounced visit to Goma, a city currently under the control of M23 rebels. He arrived in a heavily armed convoy escorted by M23 fighters and appeared publicly alongside exiled Congolese journalist Steve Wembi, who has been residing in Rwanda.
Kabila, who ruled the DRC for 18 years before stepping down in 2019, has lived in exile since 2023. His visit to Goma has stirred speculation he is backing the M23 insurgency, which controls much of North and South Kivu, including Goma, Bukavu, and Goma International Airport and Kavumu Airport.
Justice Minister Constant Mutamba responded by ordering the seizure of Kabila’s assets and suspending all activities of his party, the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Development (PPRD), where Kabila serves as moral authority. Several senior PPRD officials were also arrested over alleged rebel links