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Politics · Asia

Joseph Kabila joins coalition with M23 rebels, Outlook India reports

Former Congolese President Joseph Kabila has joined an anti-government coalition that includes M23 rebels seeking to remove President Tshisekedi, Outlook India reported. The alliance announced it would use the name Refoundation of the Nation (FRN).

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What happened

Key facts

  • Former Congolese President Joseph Kabila has joined a rebellion or rebel coalition (per outlookindia.com, Al Jazeera).
  • After Kabila joined, the alliance formed by the Alliance Fleuve Congo coalition and the M23 armed group said it would be called the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN) (per outlookindia.com).
  • M23 says it took up arms because the Congolese government failed to fulfil earlier promises (per outlookindia.com).
  • Al Jazeera quoted Goma resident Basa Juhudi as saying Kabila's involvement meant the war was far from over, citing his former presidency and knowledge of the country (per outlookindia.com).
  • Joseph Kabila became Congo's president in 2001 after his father, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, was assassinated (per outlookindia.com).
  • Kabila won elections in 2006 and secured a second term in 2011; his second term was due to end in 2016, but elections were postponed, and a political agreement later cleared the way for elections in December 2018 (per outlookindia.com).

The brief

Former Congolese President Joseph Kabila has joined an anti-government coalition that includes M23 rebels seeking to remove President Tshisekedi, Outlook India reported. The announcement was followed by a change in the alliance’s name: the grouping said it would now be called the Refoundation of the Nation, or FRN.

Outlook India describes the alliance as formed by the Alliance Fleuve Congo coalition and the M23 armed group. Its account says the new name followed the announcement of Kabila’s role. It does not give further specifics about his position within the coalition or describe actions by the alliance after the announcement.

M23 says it took up arms because the Congolese government did not fulfil promises made earlier. That is the group’s stated explanation for taking up arms; Outlook India does not describe the promises or include a response from the government. The stated objective of the coalition’s M23 members is to remove President Tshisekedi.

Al Jazeera quoted Basa Juhudi, a resident of Goma, commenting on Kabila’s entry into the rebellion. Juhudi said Kabila’s status as a former president and his familiarity with the country made him see the war as far from over. That is Juhudi’s assessment, rather than a stated position from the coalition or the Congolese government.

Kabila became president in 2001 after his father, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, was assassinated. He won elections in 2006 and a second term in 2011. The account says that term was supposed to end in 2016, but elections were postponed; a political agreement later cleared the way for elections in December 2018.

Outlook India also cites a 2021 investigation by international media outlets and anti-corruption groups, which found that Kabila and his family had accumulated significant wealth during his nearly 20 years in power. The account provides no figure for that wealth or further identification of the investigation.

The immediate developments described are Kabila’s entry into the coalition and the alliance’s announcement of its new name; no subsequent operation or government action is reported.

Why it matters

  • M23’s stated aim is to remove President Tshisekedi, placing the Congolese government and the coalition’s political objective directly at odds.
  • M23 says its decision to take up arms followed the government’s failure to fulfil earlier promises, making those unspecified commitments central to the group’s stated justification.
  • Kabila’s former presidency and his entry into the coalition are the basis for Goma resident Basa Juhudi’s view that the war is far from over.

What to watch next

  • Whether the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN) announces or undertakes any action after the coalition’s renaming.
  • Whether the Congolese government responds to M23’s claim about unfulfilled promises.
  • Whether the coalition sets out Kabila’s role or states how it intends to pursue its aim of removing President Tshisekedi.

How it's being covered

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3 source articles · 3 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Not enough rated outlets
Where the outlets are based: Middle East 33% · Asia 33% · Other 34%
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Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
3 unique outletsDominant coverage: Middle East
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Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Laurent-Désiré Kabila became president, but his government later fought forces backed by Rwanda and Uganda in the Second Congo War, which began in 1998.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. Joseph Kabila became Congo's president in 2001 after his father, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, was assassinated.
    Reported in this story's sourcesSource:outlookindia.com
  3. A peace agreement signed in Pretoria on December 17, 2002, helped bring that war formally to an end and established a transitional government.
    Background · from our historical context
  4. The immediate backdrop was the March 23, 2009 peace agreement between the Congolese government and the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), a rebel movement in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
    Background · from our historical context
  5. A later Congolese military campaign defeated the group in 2013, and many of its fighters fled to neighbouring countries.
    Background · from our historical context
  6. Congolese political parties signed an agreement setting a path to elections after Joseph Kabila's term expired.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. The Democratic Republic of the Congo held elections, and Félix Tshisekedi was elected president.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  8. M23 re-emerged in eastern Congo in 2021.
    Background · from our historical context
  9. In December 2023, former electoral commission chief Corneille Nangaa announced the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), a political-military coalition that included M23.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

The immediate backdrop was the March 23, 2009 peace agreement between the Congolese government and the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), a rebel movement in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Former CNDP members later formed the March 23 Movement, or M23; the group said it took up arms in 2012 because the government had not honoured the 2009 agreement. A later Congolese military campaign defeated the group in 2013, and many of its fighters fled to neighbouring countries. M23 re-emerged in eastern Congo in 2021.

Original sources

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