{"id":49419,"date":"2025-05-26T14:26:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T18:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/ex-dr-congo-president-returns-from-self-imposed-exile-party-says\/26\/05\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T14:26:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T18:26:59","slug":"ex-dr-congo-president-returns-from-self-imposed-exile-party-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/ex-dr-congo-president-returns-from-self-imposed-exile-party-says\/26\/05\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-DR Congo president returns from self-imposed exile, party says"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Former Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila is back in the country for the first time in two years, having arrived in the rebel-held eastern city of Goma, spokespeople for the rebels as well as a youth leader from his party have said.<\/p>\n

Kabila’s arrival comes after senators stripped him of his immunity<\/a> over alleged support for the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group which has been fighting the Congolese army.<\/p>\n

Kabila, who has previously denied links with the rebel group, recently decried the justice system<\/a> , alleging it was “exploited for political ends”.<\/p>\n

The 53-year-old led DR Congo for 18 years, after succeeding his father Laurent, who was shot dead in 2001.<\/p>\n

He handed power to President F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi in 2019, but they later fell out.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the BBC, a Goma youth leader for Kabila’s People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), confirmed earlier reports from the M23 that Kabila had arrived in Goma.<\/p>\n

“Kabila should be allowed full access to the country. For us it is like a father has returned to his children,” Innocent Mirimo told BBC Swahili.<\/p>\n

Last month, the PPRD was banned by the authorities in the capital, Kinshasa, who accused of having an “ambiguous attitude” towards the capture of Congolese territory by the M23.<\/p>\n

In a message on X<\/a>, rebel spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka welcomed Kabila to Goma saying: “We wish him a pleasant stay in the liberated areas.”<\/p>\n

A similar message was shared by another spokesperson, Willy Ngoma.<\/p>\n

The Congolese authorities accuse Kabila of war crimes and treason, alleging there is a “substantial body of documents, testimony and material facts” that link the former leader to the M23.<\/p>\n

In a now-deleted YouTube video released on Friday, Kabila called the Congolese government a “dictatorship”, and said there was a “decline of democracy” in the country.<\/p>\n

Congolese government spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya, rejected Kabila’s allegations, saying he had “nothing to offer the country”.<\/p>\n

Fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 first broke out in 2012 and ended in a peace deal the following year. But in 2021 the group took up arms again, saying the promises made in the deal had been broken.<\/p>\n

Since the beginning of this year, the M23 has made major advances in the mineral-rich east, including taking Goma in January.<\/p>\n

The conflict has led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians in the last few months.<\/p>\n

Kabila has been living outside the country, in South Africa, for the past two years. At the beginning of last month he said he would be returning to help find a solution to the conflict.<\/p>\n

More BBC Africa stories about DR Congo:<\/h2>\n
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