Kabila returns to Goma amid speculation of rebel support
Former DRC President Joseph Kabila.
Former Congolese president Joseph Kabila on Friday returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to several sources.
His arrival in Goma, which has become a stronghold of the M23/AFC rebels, has sparked controversy in the country.
Some commentators believe that Kabila, President Félix Tshisekedi's predecessor, has now assumed his support for the rebels.
Augustin Kabuya, the secretary-general of the ruling UDPS party – Tshisekedi's party – pushed this view on Friday.
In response to the accusations made against him, Kabila said: "Ask President Tshisekedi to provide you with proof of his accusation."
Kabila has returned to the country after more than a year in a self-imposed exile.
He said he is returning to "participate in the peace effort".
At institutional level, no comment has been made on Kabila's return to the DRC via Goma.
A few days ago, some members of Kabila’s party, the PPRD, invoked Article 30 of the Congolese Constitution to defend Kabila's choice to go to Goma. "Any person on national territory has the right to move freely, to take up residence, to leave and to return, under the conditions laid down by law. No Congolese may be expelled from the territory of the Republic, forced into exile or forced to live outside his or her usual place of residence," the party said.
Kabila returned against a backdrop of enmity and mistrust between him and his successor. Searches are currently being carried out at some of the Kabila family's properties, notably in the commune of Limete, in Kinshasa. This has angered the family of the former head of state.
His wife, Marie Olive Lembe, complained about the "looting and theft" of the family's property.
"Generators, solar panels, batteries and vehicles were taken away by the DEMIAP (intelligence service). On what basis are they seizing our property? It's theft. Who filed the complaint? Where is the judicial decision? They've come to investigate weapons, where are they?" she asked.
Another search has been announced at another of Kabila's property in Kingakati east of Kinshasa, where the former president has investments, including an animal park. He usually stays on this property when he is in Kinshasa.
Kabila had formed an alliance with President Tshisekedi in 2019 but the coalition fell apart, giving rise to old quarrels. Tshisekedi succeeded in establishing himself politically with the support of a number of PPRD and FCC veterans, two of Kabila's political platforms.
For his return to active politics in the DRC, Kabila appointed a new vice-president to his party, the former speaker of the National Assembly Aubin Minaku. Between February and March this year, several PPRD executives, including Minaku, were questioned several times by intelligence officers.
