Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) honorary former president Joseph Kabila has announced his long-awaited return to the country after over a year in self-imposed exile and having become subject of brutal and unsubstantiated accusations of leading a rebellion by the ruling government of Félix Tshisekedi.
On Friday, 23rd May 2025, Kabila delivered a moving speech to the nation in a video which aired on different platforms in the DR Congo having come under scrutiny from government who have proposed the lifting of his immunity.
In his speech, Kabila revealed that he would be arriving in the city of Goma, which is under the control of the AFC/M23 movement, in the coming days.
Kabila went on to criticize the government for its inconsiderate move to accuse him of leading the AFC-M23 rebellion and request for the lifting of his immunity based on an unfounded and false social media claims about his presence in Goma, a few days ago.
“A few days ago, following a simple rumor on the street or on social media about my alleged presence in Goma, where I will be going in the coming days, as announced elsewhere, the regime in Kinshasa took arbitrary decisions with disconcerting levity. This is evidence of the spectacular decline of democracy in our country,” declared Joseph Kabila.
In the same vein, the former head of state denounced some of the evils, which characterizes the Tshisekedi regime, which include defamation, demonization and division to win and rule; accusing others to justify their poor performances, whatever the consequences on national cohesion, or in terms of human lives unjustly broken or lost.
