Over the weekend former DR Congo President Joseph Kabila appeared in areas controlled by AFC/M23, sending shockwaves through the Tshisekedi regime. Kabila’s presence in Goma, after a period of retreat from national politics, was a serious declaration in itself.
Huge crowds greeted him, underscoring his popularity and inducing panic in Kinshasa. The political alignment of the former president with the AFC/M23 movement for instance shatters the lie that “this is a Rwandan movement”, which Tshisekedists cling to like drowning rats.
Kabila, who has spent time in countries like Namibia advocating for peace and stability in DRC has become increasingly vocal about the regime’s incompetence. His criticism of Kinshasa’s leadership has been clear, direct, and consistent. In his own words, “the weakness of DRC is not Rwanda’s fault, nor Uganda’s—it is the fault of the Congolese themselves.”
On his social media platforms, Kabila made it clear that his return was not a casual move but a political declaration. This prompted Tshisekedi regime to plunge into usual madness against any dissenting voice. The ruler of Congo immediately instructed his justice minister Constant Mutamba to brand Kabila a criminal and enemy of the state and ordered authorities to attach his properties and issued an arrest warrant.
From the look of things Kinshasa does not fear Kabila in person, it is the meaning of his return through Goma, a city liberated and administered by M23 forces, and the growing popularity of the movement across the political sphere. Kinshasa may cry betrayal, but the country is starting to listen elsewhere.
Kabila is not alone. The gradual defection of key Congolese politicians to M23, like Corneille Nanga, the leader of AFC, Adam Chalwe, former youth coordinator of Kabila’s party, journalists like Steve Wembi among others underscores a painful truth: this movement is no longer just a military force—it is a legitimate political solution to DRC 3 decades crisis. And in a nation starved of leadership and buried in corruption, alternatives are beginning to look like salvation.
The Tshisekedi regime is now facing the consequences of its own failures. When even former presidents walk away from the system they once led, it is not sabotage. It is a deep vote of no confidence. And the people are watching.