Former President Joseph Kabila has criticized President Félix Tshisekedi, accusing his administration of prioritizing military action over dialogue, stressing that “war is a choice, so is peace.”
Kabila, who led DR Congo from 2001 to 2019, made the remarks in an interview with La Libre Belgique in Goma on March 20, while addressing a range of political and security issues facing his country.
Responding to questions about the government’s preference for military action over peace talks, the former president acknowledged that negotiations are difficult but necessary.
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“War is a choice. So is peace,” Kabila noted. “At a summit in Luanda, Angola, with our allies—Presidents José Eduardo dos Santos of Angola, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and Sam Nujoma of Namibia—I reiterated that the peace option was the best and required inclusive dialogue among all Congolese, without exception: civil society, the political class, and those who had taken up arms.”
“Today, I have to acknowledge that the same wisdom no longer prevails. Instead, we have warmongers in power,” he lamented. “While I’m not a pacifist, I love peace. From the outset, I advised those now in Kinshasa to opt for negotiation. The response has always been, ‘We’re going to war.’ Five years later, we’re still in the same mess. War.”
For him, the presence of multiple foreign armies, rebel groups controlling various regions, and a proliferation of armed factions constitute major obstacles to achieving lasting peace.
Kabila reiterated that choosing peace is not easy and requires national ownership. “The Congolese people must take charge of their country’s process,” he said, adding that “all [foreign] the countries involved in the DRC have to leave.”
Drone attack in Goma
Commenting on a recent drone strike in Goma town that killed, in the early hours of Wednesday, March 11, Karine Buisset, a 54-year-old French humanitarian worker with UNICEF, Kabila suggested he and his allies have been targeted by the Kinshasa regime.
“We have always been targeted by the regime in Kinshasa,” he said, expressing optimism that investigations are currently underway.
Asked about reports of a death sentence and the lifting of his immunity by authorities in Kinshasa over alleged links to the AFC/M23, Kabila said he is “calm.”
“I am calm—very calm,” he said. “Everywhere I go, leaders still see me as former President Kabila. But for me, the essential point is the situation our country and its people are experiencing today in relation to what we bequeathed to Mr. Félix in 2019.”
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Balkanization
Kabila believes that if the crisis in the DRC continues unchecked, the situation could spiral out of control.
“Many speak of balkanization; I speak of the ‘Sudanization’ of the crisis in the DRC,” he warned. “There are similarities between what our country is experiencing and the dynamics that led to the implosion of Sudan.”
Responding to the question, “Do you think there could be a split in the country, East-West?” Kabila said cautiously, “I don’t think so, but we must recognize that the conditions are there. If we fail to manage the crisis properly, we risk completely uncontrollable outcomes.”
