Kabila launches a front in Goma with M23 leaders

Joseph Kabila, who was president of the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2001 to 2019, unveiled the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN) in Goma on Monday, Oct. 12, a movement that describes itself as political and military, according to Al Jazeera. Goma, the capital of North Kivu province and a city on the border with Rwanda, has been held by the AFC/M23 rebel alliance since January 2025.

The FRN takes the place of that alliance, which is dissolved. Kabila leads it, and his deputies are former rebel leaders: Corneille Nangaa, Bertrand Bisimwa and Gen. Sultani Makenga, who keeps command of the general staff of the armed wing. That is according to The New Times, a Rwandan newspaper close to the government in Kigali. Reuters adds a fourth name, Freddy Kaniki, without specifying his role.

Nangaa chaired the electoral commission in the 2018 elections that brought Felix Tshisekedi, now president, to power.

The statement was read by Claude Ibalanky, an adviser to the coalition, who said the front wants to unite resistance forces to "put an end to tyranny" and will use "all necessary means, including the use of force." Kabila had denied backing the insurgency. In an earlier speech he accused the government of corruption, poor governance, military setbacks in the east and signing a mining deal with the United States.

In 2025 a military court sentenced him to death in absentia for treason and war crimes. He calls the case political and rejects the charges. Washington sanctioned him this year, according to Al Jazeera, for allegedly financing rebel groups.

Yvon Muya, a researcher at the University of Ottawa, told the Qatar-based network that an escalation on the military front is likely. Other analysts warn that the coalition could damage talks between the government and M23, planned in Qatar for November.

As of Oct. 15 there is no official statement from the Congolese government on the FRN, only earlier accusations against Kabila.