Former Democratic Republic of Congo president Joseph Kabila has joined forces with the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group to lead a new political and military alliance, marking his most direct intervention yet in the conflict that has gripped the country’s east.
The alliance was unveiled on Monday at a joint press conference at Kabila’s residence in Goma – the main city in eastern DRC which has been under M23 control since January 2025.
The new organisation, known as the Front pour la Refondation de la Nation, or FRN, was presented as a “politico-military” movement that would bring together the resources and forces of Kabila’s supporters and the rebels.
Its stated objective is to “put an end to tyranny by any means, including force”.
Kabila will head the movement, with senior rebel figures serving as his deputies.
The announcement represents a significant escalation in the former president’s confrontation with the government of his successor, Félix Tshisekedi, and brings together one of the country’s most prominent political figures with an armed movement that controls large areas of eastern DRC.
Kabila, 55, ruled the country from 2001 until 2019 and has largely stayed out of public view since leaving office.
He was sentenced to death in absentia in 2025 after being convicted of “complicity” with the M23.
Congolese authorities have also accused him of being one of the driving forces behind the Congo River Alliance – known by its French acronym AFC – which previously served as the political wing of the M23 before being dissolved.
Kabila has denied those allegations.
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