The Democratic Republic of Congo has suspended former President Joseph Kabila’s political party and ordered his assets seized, accusing him of supporting Rwandan-backed rebels in the country’s eastern region, the government announced late Saturday.
Kabila, 53, who ruled the vast Central African nation from 2001 to 2019, has recently expressed his desire to return to Congo to help seek a solution to the ongoing conflict. However, both the interior and justice ministries issued statements indicating that prosecutors have been instructed to initiate proceedings against him for alleged acts amounting to high treason.
The government claims Kabila’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy has aided the M23 rebel group, which has captured two major cities in the mineral-rich eastern provinces since the beginning of the year. No specific details of the accusations were provided in the ministerial statements.
Ferdinand Kambere, secretary of Kabila’s party, rejected the suspension, telling Reuters it represents “a flagrant violation of Congo’s constitution and laws.”
The crackdown comes amid escalating violence in eastern DRC, a region that has suffered decades of conflict rooted in the spillover from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and ongoing struggles for control of valuable mineral resources.
Kabila came to power following his father Laurent-Désiré Kabila’s assassination in 2001. His refusal to step down when his final constitutional term expired in 2016 triggered deadly protests across the country. He eventually relinquished power in 2019 in Congo’s first peaceful transfer of authority since independence, and has since lived in various African nations.
The suspension of Kabila’s party marks a significant escalation in political tensions as current President Felix Tshisekedi’s government grapples with the worsening security situation in the east, where the M23 rebels continue to gain territory despite government efforts and international diplomatic pressure to end the conflict.