Joseph Kabila led the DRC from 2001 to 2019 and became a senator for life after handing power to Felix Tshisekedi. After their coalition ended and the AFC/M23 alliance took Goma and Bukavu in 2025, the government accused him of backing it, the Senate lifted his immunity and the High Military Court convicted him in absentia and sentenced him to death in September 2025. Kabila denies the accusations and calls the case political. In 2026 the US Treasury sanctioned him and he announced in Goma that he would head a new coalition that includes M23 leaders.
Kabila stands convicted in absentia by the High Military Court and sentenced to death, and no appeal by him was found in sources reviewed. Since 12 October 2026 he has headed the FRN, a politico-military coalition announced in Goma whose deputies include M23 leaders, Reuters and AFP reported. Tshisekedi calls him a Rwandan proxy and Kabila denies the accusations against him.
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President Laurent Kabila was shot dead by a bodyguard at the presidential residence in Kinshasa, AFP reported. His son Joseph, then an army general, was hurriedly appointed to succeed him.
Joseph Kabila took the oath of office ten days after his father's killing, after the ceremony was postponed twice, Sapa-AP reported. The Supreme Court confirmed him as the country's fourth president since independence.
The Supreme Court rejected Jean-Pierre Bemba's challenge and confirmed Kabila as winner of the 29 October run-off with 58.05 percent against 41.95 percent, AFP reported. It was the country's first free election in 41 years.
After the 28 November 2011 vote, the Carter Center said the tabulation had serious irregularities, including the loss of nearly 2,000 polling station results in Kinshasa, Al Jazeera reported. Provisional results gave Kabila about 49 percent and Etienne Tshisekedi about 32 percent. Tshisekedi rejected them.
The Supreme Court proclaimed Kabila president-elect with 48.95 percent against 32.33 percent for Etienne Tshisekedi, Al Jazeera reported. The European Union and the Carter Center had raised serious concerns about the vote's credibility.
Kabila's second and final constitutional term ended on 20 December 2016 with no election held, Al Jazeera reported. The UN Joint Human Rights Office later said security forces used excessive and disproportionate force against protesters in several cities in late December and that more than 40 people were killed, AP reported.
Talks overseen by the Catholic bishops' conference CENCO produced a deal under which Kabila would stay until an elected successor took office, elections would be held by the end of 2017 and he would not seek a third term, Al Jazeera reported.
Al JazeeraThe presidential election was held on 30 December 2018 and Kabila did not stand. Felix Tshisekedi was declared the winner. Runner-up Martin Fayulu alleged massive rigging and a deal between Kabila and Tshisekedi, and the Catholic Church's observer mission said its data showed Fayulu had won, AP reported.
Tshisekedi was sworn in, in what AP called the country's first peaceful transfer of power since independence. Kabila's coalition kept a large majority in the legislature. As an elected former president Kabila became a senator for life with parliamentary immunity, AFP and the state agency ACP later reported.
Kabila entered the Senate chamber wearing a senator's sash, the first time he exercised his senator for life mandate, AFP reported. He led the FCC platform, which governed in coalition with Tshisekedi's camp as relations between them worsened.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
Tshisekedi announced he would end the coalition agreement between his CACH platform and Kabila's FCC, and the FCC said it kept its parliamentary majority, the Nation reported. The BBC later said he announced his new Sacred Union coalition that day.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, appointed in February, named a 57-member Sacred Union cabinet, the BBC reported. It said Tshisekedi had forced the previous prime minister to resign by persuading scores of lawmakers to defect after breaking with Kabila.
MyJoyOnline (BBC)Kabila left the DRC before the December 2023 presidential election, according to his family spokesman, AFP reported. Reuters reported that he lived mostly in South Africa from late 2023, and AFP said he was seen in South Africa and Namibia.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
Fighters of the M23 armed group, part of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), marched into central Goma, the largest city in eastern DRC, Reuters reported. UN experts said Rwanda had deployed 3,000 to 4,000 troops in support of M23. Rwanda's foreign ministry cited the need for a sustained defensive posture.
At the Munich Security Conference Tshisekedi said his predecessor was behind the armed opposition, Actualite.cd and the state agency ACP reported.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
M23 fighters reached the centre of Bukavu, capital of South Kivu, and the communications ministry acknowledged the city was occupied, AP reported.
OPB (AP)A message relayed by Kabila's staff in early April said he would return because the country was in peril, AFP reported. In an interview with Jeune Afrique he said he wanted to help find a solution to the crisis after years of retreat, according to Al Jazeera.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
The interior ministry suspended the PPRD nationwide, citing its ambiguous attitude toward M23 and Kabila's reported entry through Goma, which was not independently confirmed. The justice ministry asked prosecutors to begin proceedings and ordered the seizure of assets of Kabila and party leaders. A PPRD official called the suspension a flagrant violation of the constitution, Al Jazeera reported.
The Senate voted 88 to 5, with 3 void ballots, to lift Kabila's immunity as a senator for life at the request of the military prosecutor at the High Military Court, the state agency ACP reported, and Bloomberg reported the 88 to 5 vote. The justice minister said the alleged crimes included treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and participation in an insurrectional movement, Al Jazeera reported. Kabila did not answer the Senate's invitation to present a defence, ACP said.
In a livestreamed address from an undisclosed location Kabila denounced the decision and denied supporting M23, Al Jazeera reported. He said the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity were not negotiable. AFP reported that he said the dictatorship must end.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
Kabila met religious leaders at his residence west of Goma, his first public appearance in territory held by M23, Reuters reported. Al Jazeera and AFP photo captions also showed him in Goma. Reuters said his camp denies any ties to M23.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
The UN Group of Experts final report said Kabila's announcement that he would return had worsened internal tensions in AFC/M23. It found that Kabila, Moise Katumbi and John Numbi had not officially joined AFC/M23 but were in regular contact with its leader Corneille Nangaa and with Kigali and Kampala.
The High Military Court opened the case in Kinshasa with Kabila absent, accepted its jurisdiction and adjourned to 31 July, Xinhua reported in a story carried by The Independent. Justice Info also dated the trial from 25 July. Kabila had no lawyer at the trial, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported.
Military prosecutor Lieutenant General Lucien Rene Likulia asked for the death penalty, AP and AFP reported, and AP said he also sought 20 years for condoning war crimes and 15 years for conspiracy. AFP said the prosecution accused Kabila of seeking, in league with Rwanda, to overthrow Tshisekedi. La Libre Belgique reported that state lawyers sought more than 21 billion dollars in damages.
A filing records a party's position. It is not by itself a finding.
The court held a hearing on 19 September after reopening the proceedings, ACP reported. Justice Info reported that witnesses promised by the civil parties did not appear and that videos were shown instead.
The High Military Court convicted Kabila in absentia and sentenced him to death, AFP and the state agency ACP reported. AFP listed war crimes by murder, rape and torture, treason and organising an insurrectional movement, plus 15 years for conspiracy, while ACP also listed apology for war crimes and Reuters reported crimes against humanity. ACP said the court ordered his immediate arrest, and Reuters said Kabila was not represented and could not be reached.
Daily Maverick (Reuters)Al JazeeraACP reported the court ordered Kabila to pay 29 billion dollars to the state and 2 billion dollars each to North Kivu and South Kivu. Reuters put the total at about 50 billion dollars and Justice Info at 30 billion dollars, and Justice Info said the court refused to order the seizure of his assets. The court's own figure could not be checked because the judgment text was not found.
Daily Maverick (Reuters)Justice InfoAfter a two-day conclave in Nairobi chaired by Kabila, opposition figures launched a movement called Save the DRC, which accused the government of violating the constitution and using the courts for political ends, Actualite.cd reported. AFP reported the launch, and government spokesman Patrick Muyaya described the gathering as a meeting of fugitives and convicts.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Kabila under Executive Order 13413, alleging he financed the AFC, encouraged army troops to defect and sought to install a candidate opposed to Tshisekedi. Kinshasa welcomed the decision, AFP reported.
In a written statement Kabila said the decision rested on the narrative of the Kinshasa government, AFP reported. He pledged to work to end what he called the dictatorship.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
The UN Group of Experts final report described an increasingly close public association between AFC/M23 and Kabila and said he had travelled frequently to territory it controls since May 2025 and met its senior leadership. Radio Okapi and Africanews reported on the report in early July.
At a news conference at his residence in Goma, Kabila's camp announced the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation, a politico-military coalition including M23, with Kabila as its head and AFC/M23 figures including Corneille Nangaa as deputies, Reuters, AFP and Al Jazeera reported. Reuters said it was meant to replace the AFC/M23 alliance. An FRN adviser said it aimed to end tyranny by any means including force, Al Jazeera reported.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said Kabila's alignment with M23 and Rwanda confirmed Kinshasa's accusations and cited the June 2026 UN experts report, the state agency ACP reported. Kabila denies the accusations.
An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
In a speech to lawmakers, Tshisekedi said Rwandan President Paul Kagame had asked his proxy to take charge of the offensive, AFP reported. Kabila has denied links to the AFC.
Africanews (AFP)An attributed statement records what the speaker said.
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Al Jazeera · aljazeera.com Daily Maverick (Reuters) · dailymaverick.co.za
Polity (Bloomberg) · polity.org.za Al Jazeera · aljazeera.com Al Jazeera · aljazeera.com
Arab News (AFP) · arabnews.pk Al Jazeera · aljazeera.com
Eyewitness News (AFP) · ewn.co.za Africanews (AFP) · africanews.com Al Jazeera · aljazeera.com Al Jazeera · aljazeera.com
KSL (AP) · ksl.com Al Jazeera · aljazeera.com
Nation (Kenya) · nation.africa MyJoyOnline (BBC) · myjoyonline.com OPB (AP) · opb.org
La Libre Belgique · lalibre.be Eyewitness News (AFP) · ewn.co.za
Radio Okapi (via AllAfrica) · fr.allafrica.com Africanews · africanews.com Daily Maverick (Reuters) · dailymaverick.co.zaCoverage through 27 October 2026. Editorial review: 1 November 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Copyright concerns: report an asset. Every event links to its sources. Source type does not establish whether a claim is true.