Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo are trying to lift former President Joseph Kabila’s immunity from the charges after accusing him of supporting rebels in the East.
There were “substantial documents, testimony and material facts” linking Kabila to the M23 armed groups, Justice Minister Constan said Wednesday.
The M23 now manages a portion of the country’s mineral-rich eastern region after making great strides earlier this year.
Kabila, 53, has not commented on the charges, but has denied any previous ties to the rebels.
He led Dr. Congo for 18 years, following his father, Laurent, who was shot dead in 2001. Joseph Kabila was 29 years old at the time.
After resigning, he was given the title of “Senator for Life.”
In pursuit of legal cases, Dr. Congo’s military prosecutor asked the Senate to overturn this.
Kabila has lived outside South Africa for the past two years. But earlier last month, he said he’ll be back to help find a solution to the conflict in the East.
A few weeks later, there were reports that the former president returned and was in Goma, one of the cities captured by the M23.
However, these were rejected by his political parties, the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD).
Last month, authorities banned the PPRD due to “ambiguous attitude” towards M23’s occupation of Congo’s territory.
Justice Minister Mutamba, who ordered the seizing of Kabila’s assets last month, said the former president should return to the country and “facing justice… presenting his defense.”
Dr. Congo and Dr. Rwanda, who deny accusations in favour of the M23, may have been framed towards a peace agreement to end the battle, seeing hundreds of thousands of civilians forced in recent months.
The two countries signed a preliminary agreement in Washington last week and said they would sign a draft agreement by Friday.
After being sworn in as president after his father’s death, Kabila won two elections. His second final term in office officially ended in December 2016, but he refused to resign, making it impossible to organize an election, leading to fatal protests.
He remained well for another two years until the final election was held in 2018.
In January 2019, he handed power to Felix Zisekedi, the official winner of the conflict election.
He accused Kabila and Tshisekedi of agreeing to a deal to remove him from power – something both men denied.
However, the relationship with the pair deteriorated, and the coalition of parties officially ended in December 2020.
Kabila left Dr. Congo in 2023 and officially studied in South Africa.
In January 2024, his doctoral dissertation on the geopolitics of African relations with the US, China and Russia was examined at the University of Johannesburg.
Additional reports from Aaron Akinyemi and BBC Monitoring
