Opposition Ensemble Pour la Republique party led by Moïse Katumbi has denied claims that two of the five arrested DR Congo traitors for collaborating with the M23 Rebel Group were active members of their structures.
The Congolese Army (FARDC) earlier this week presented five Congolese traitors who had been working with the M23 in recruiting new members in eastern DRC where the rebels have been advancing over the past few weeks.
Two of the arrested traitors, Alain Aliongera and Hope Kibuya, both former provincial deputies in the east, were identified by the FARDC as members of the Ensemble Pour la Republique, claims that have since been denied.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Katumbi’s party clarified that both Aliongera and Sabini were elected as provincial deputies in 2018 on different party tickets and not that of the Ensemble Pour la Republique which was only formed in 2019.
“On the occasion of the presentation to the press, on Friday March 8, 2024, of people presumed guilty of complicity with the M23 and traitors to the national cause, the words of General Sylvain EKENGE BOMUSA, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the DRC in Goma, blacklisting the ENSEMBLE POUR LA REPUBLIC Party have not gone unnoticed and call for some observations on our part to enlighten both national and international opinion” the statement signed by Ensemble Pour la Republique party Secretary General Herve Diakiese reads.
“ENSEMBLE POUR LA REPUBLIC, a political party created on December 19, 2019 and recognized or registered by the Ministry of the Interior on November 20, 2020, could not have a deputy in 2018 since it did not exist.”
The statement continues: “Mr. Alain ALIONGERA was made provincial deputy in 2018, in the wake of an elected official from the AARC party of FCC who left him his provincial seat in Walikale Territory. He never had any connection with ENSEMBLE. Our party is cited in his case for incomprehensible reasons. Either it is clearly with the intention of demonizing and harming our credibility, or our army is poorly informed and that would be very serious in this period of war.
As for Mr. Hope KIBUYA SABINI, elected Provincial Deputy of the Territory of Rutshuru on the list of the MS Political Group in the 2018 elections, no certainty establishes that he would have presented himself on a list of ENSEMBLE as the 2023 elections have not. did not take place in Rutshuru, given that other political actors, from the same stock as him, opted for other organizations at the time of the competition in their respective strongholds.”
Having terribly failed to deal with the escalating violence and advancement of the M23 rebels, President Fèlix Tshisekedi and government have moved to shift the blame on Moïse Katumbi for the ongoing tension in the east by claiming he is an ally of the enemies of the DR Congo.
