Democratic Republic of Congo’s Senate Speaker Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde has accused former president Joseph Kabila of betraying the country after Kabila emerged as leader of a new politico-military coalition that incorporates the Rwanda-backed AFC/M23 rebellion.
Speaking at a Senate plenary on October 13, Sama Lukonde called Kabila an “enemy of the Congolese people” and said recent events had vindicated President Félix Tshisekedi’s claim that the former head of state was the “main instigator” of the eastern rebellion, according to the Kinshasa-based website Ouragan.
He urged political leaders and citizens to unite behind Tshisekedi and condemned Kabila’s “anti-patriotic” stance.
Kabila was unveiled as head of the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN), launched at his residence in Goma on October 12. The movement succeeds the Congo River Alliance (AFC), the political wing of the M23 armed group, and brings together Kabila’s supporters with senior rebel figures, including AFC leader Corneille Nangaa and M23 military chief Sultani Makenga.
Human Rights Minister Samuel Mbemba accused Kabila of seeking to worsen insecurity in eastern DR Congo, where fighting has displaced civilians and driven widespread abuses, and said that Kabila’s October 9 speech ignored what Kinshasa describes as Rwandan aggression.
Former National Assembly Speaker Vital Kamerhe also rejected the armed route, saying peace could not be proposed to Congolese people “while resorting to arms,” and urged political and armed actors to prioritise dialogue.
The FRN’s creation formalizes Kabila’s role in an insurgency that controls large parts of mineral-rich eastern DR Congo. His prominence may also complicate international pressure on Rwanda. UN experts reported in June that his visibility appeared designed to present the rebellion as a Congolese political movement rather than a Rwandan-backed force.
The former president remains under US sanctions and was sentenced to death in absentia in 2025 for alleged treason linked to AFC/M23.
