Former DR Congo president says the country is 'in peril'

Speaking to the Congolese people on Friday via his Reconstruct the DRC YouTube channel, former president Joseph Kabilla said the situation in the country has ‘steadily worsened’.

Without naming President Félix Tshisekedi, he denounced personal power guided by the “sole will of the head of state” who “considers the Congo as private property”.

“This has resulted in a system of governance more concerned with maintaining the status quo than with the welfare of the people,” he said.

According to him, the DRC “is no longer a Republic, much less a democratic one," denouncing a governance marked by " the institutionalization of tribalism and nepotism”.

Kabila described what he sees as the discrimination against minorities, the exploitation of state power for political ends, and the mismanagement of state asset and public property.

He also criticised the government’s handling of the conflict in the eastern DRC, saying that continuing the war there would not solve the country’s political and security problems.

Kabila accused Tshisekedi of refusing to engage in initiatives aimed at finding a political solution to the crisis.

“Dialogue is not an option" but rather a necessary path to restoring peace and strengthening national cohesion, he said.

He notably mentioned steps taken by regional organisations in east, southern, and central Africa, as well as by the African Union and certain partner countries.

Kabila reiterated his call for an inclusive national dialogue, an approach he claims is necessary to reconcile the Congolese people, restore national cohesion, and re-establish democracy and the rule of law.

In May last year, he presented a 12-point plan that included ending the war, restoring state authority and the rule of law, reconciling communities, neutralising armed groups, and withdrawing foreign troops.

His statement on Friday comes after Tshisekedi officially launched a “National Dialogue for Peace, Cohesion, and the Refounding of the State” in August.

Scheduled to last a maximum of three months, this process is intended to start at the grassroots level before moving up to national institutions, according to the presidency.

However, its format is seen as divisive. Kabila's political allies contest its modalities and are demanding guarantees of its inclusiveness.

Meanwhile fighting continues on the ground between the Congolese army and the AFC/M23 rebels, supported by Rwanda, while mediation efforts by Washington and Doha are struggling to reach a conclusion.