Former Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila made his first public appearance on Wednesday since being sentenced to death in absentia for treason and war crimes, attending a meeting of Congolese opposition figures in Nairobi, Kenya. The gathering, which included over a dozen exiled Congolese leaders opposed to President Félix Tshisekedi, marked the launch of a new political alliance aimed at challenging what they called “dictatorship” and restoring democracy in Congo.
Kabila’s sudden reemergence is expected to ignite diplomatic tensions between Kinshasa and Nairobi. The Congolese government has long accused Kenya of providing indirect support to the M23 rebel movement, which has seized several key cities in Congo’s mineral-rich east. In a joint declaration, Kabila and his allies vowed to “end tyranny, reestablish state authority, and promote national reconciliation,” describing their new group as a movement to “save the country.”
Congo’s high military court sentenced Kabila to death on September 30, accusing him of collaborating with Rwanda and the M23 rebels. The former leader has denied the allegations but previously voiced sympathy for the rebels’ grievances in an opinion piece published earlier this year. Kabila, who ruled from 2001 to 2019 after succeeding his assassinated father, left Congo earlier this year amid escalating tensions with Tshisekedi — whose 2019 election ended Kabila’s 18-year reign and marked the country’s first peaceful transfer of power since independence.
