Former DR Congo president Joseph Kabila joins M23 rebels in a new front against the government, announced from Goma. Analysts fear it could derail peace talks due in Qatar in November
Photo: Julien Harneis / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0), file photo, cropped. Logos: Africa CDC and WHO.
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Former DR Congo president Joseph Kabila joins M23 rebels in a new front against the government, announced from Goma. Analysts fear it could derail peace talks due in Qatar in November.
Former Democratic Republic of Congo president Joseph Kabila has launched a political and military coalition with the M23 rebel group, in a move that deepens the crisis in the east of the country.
Kabila announced the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN) at a press conference on Monday at his residence in Goma, the eastern city that M23 has controlled since January 2025. He will lead the coalition, with Corneille Nangaa, the former head of the Congo River Alliance that includes M23, as a deputy.
An adviser to Kabila said the front aims to unite all opposition forces to end what it calls tyranny, by force if necessary. The DRC government had not responded by Tuesday.
Background
Kabila ruled the DRC from 2001 to 2019. In 2025 a military court sentenced him to death in his absence for treason, war crimes and crimes against humanity, finding that he had worked with Rwanda and M23. He denies the charges and calls the case political. The United States placed sanctions on him earlier this year over alleged funding of rebel groups.
M23 holds large parts of eastern DRC, including Goma and Bukavu, as well as airports and border crossings with Rwanda and Uganda. The DRC, the US and UN experts accuse Rwanda of backing the group, which Rwanda denies.
Peace talks have repeatedly broken down. A new round was expected in Qatar in November, and analysts warn the new coalition could undermine it.
President Felix Tshisekedi's second term ends in 2028, and his allies have been floating changes to the constitution's two-term limit.
Why it matters to Kenya
Kenya has hosted several rounds of DRC peace talks and has traders and transporters working the Mombasa to Goma corridor. Instability in eastern DRC also drives refugee movements and affects regional trade through the East African Community, which the DRC joined in 2022.
Sources: Al Jazeera, Business Day and The Washington Post (12 – 14 October 2026).
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
Former Democratic Republic of Congo president Joseph Kabila has launched a political and military coalition with the M23 rebel group, in a move that deepens the crisis in the east of the country.
Kabila announced the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN) at a press conference on Monday at his residence in Goma, the eastern city that M23 has controlled since January 2025. He will lead the coalition, with Corneille Nangaa, the former head of the Congo River Alliance that includes M23, as a deputy.
An adviser to Kabila said the front aims to unite all opposition forces to end what it calls tyranny, by force if necessary. The DRC government had not responded by Tuesday.
Background
Kabila ruled the DRC from 2001 to 2019. In 2025 a military court sentenced him to death in his absence for treason, war crimes and crimes against humanity, finding that he had worked with Rwanda and M23. He denies the charges and calls the case political. The United States placed sanctions on him earlier this year over alleged funding of rebel groups.
M23 holds large parts of eastern DRC, including Goma and Bukavu, as well as airports and border crossings with Rwanda and Uganda. The DRC, the US and UN experts accuse Rwanda of backing the group, which Rwanda denies.
Peace talks have repeatedly broken down. A new round was expected in Qatar in November, and analysts warn the new coalition could undermine it.
President Felix Tshisekedi’s second term ends in 2028, and his allies have been floating changes to the constitution’s two-term limit.
Why it matters to Kenya
Kenya has hosted several rounds of DRC peace talks and has traders and transporters working the Mombasa to Goma corridor. Instability in eastern DRC also drives refugee movements and affects regional trade through the East African Community, which the DRC joined in 2022.
KNN Newsroom is the staff byline for stories written, rewritten and edited at the Kibra News Network desk. Where a story credits an outside outlet, the original source is linked at the foot of the piece.
