Former DR Congo president Joseph Kabila on Friday said he would soon visit a city occupied by the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group, in a show of defiance towards his successor after he lost his immunity.
In a rare speech streamed live on the internet, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s leader between 2001 and 2019 took aim at current President Felix Tshisekedi, who in turn has accused Kabila of conspiring with the M23.
Tshisekedi has accused Kabila of plotting an “insurrection” with the M23 and has regularly named him as the architect of its lightning advance in the east, where the armed group has seized swathes of territory with Rwanda’s help.
A day after the Senate voted to lift his parliamentary immunity, opening the 53-year-old to prosecution for his supposed M23 support, Kabila hit out at “arbitrary decisions” by Kinshasa and urged an end to dictatorship.
“Following a simple rumour from the street or social networks, about my alleged presence in Goma, where I will be going in the next few days… the regime in place in Kinshasa took arbitrary decisions with disconcerting levity, which testifies to the spectacular retreat of democracy in our country,” Kabila said.
“The dictatorship must end, and democracy and good economic and social governance must be restored,” Kabila added.
