The Democratic Republic of Congo suspended the political party of ex-President Joseph Kabila and authorized his assets to be seized on charges of supporting the M23 rebel group said to be backed by Rwanda. The moves were announced late on Saturday by both the justice and interior ministries, marking a ramping up of the government’s campaign against suspected domestic allies of the eastern war.
Kabila, who was the ruler of Congo from 2001 until 2019, following the assassination of his father, is charged with backing the M23 rebels who have taken major cities in the country’s mineral-rich eastern part of the country this year. While he had recently showed interest in resuming public life to bring an end to the war, government officials have charged him and senior members of his Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) with high treason.
The ministry of interior suspended the PPRD formally, while the justice ministry said that Kabila and his senior backers would be targeted for asset freezing. Court actions have also been launched, but charges were not yet spelled out in detail to the public.
Ferdinand Kambere, a party senior official, denounced the suspension as unconstitutional and politically motivated and described it as a blatant assault on Congo’s legal order.
The M23 rebellion, which reappeared late in 2021, has risen quickly in 2024 to the capture of key cities such as Goma in January and Bukavu in February. The conflict has so far killed around 3,000 this year and displaced some 7 million, exacerbating one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises.
The fighting in the east of Congo has long roots in history tied to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and decades of rivalry over mineral wealth. Kabila, who defied leaving office when his last term expired in 2016, has spent time in exile since exiting the presidency.
