Joseph Kabila
 Joseph Kabila    ( politician, military officer) | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 4 June 1971 |
| Member of | WEF/Young Global Leaders/2008 |
Making a come-back to power in the DRC? | |
Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician and military officer who was the fourth President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila in the context of the Second Congo War. He was allowed to remain in power after the 2003 Pretoria Accord ended the war as the president of the country's new transitional government. He was elected as president in 2006 and re-elected in 2011 for a second term. Since stepping down after the 2018 election, Kabila, as a former president, serves as a senator for life. Kabila was the country's second-longest serving president.
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Conflict with rebel forces
Kabila is credited with ending the Second Congo War and restoring relative stability to most of the country, though conflict continued in eastern DRC against rebel forces supported by the neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda. He encouraged foreign investment in the mining industry and improved the infrastructure. The size of the country's economy increased by five times during his presidency. But economic growth slowed down in the later years, and it had been very unequal. The majority of DRC's population still lived below the international poverty line by the time he left office. He helped organise electoral institutions and in 2006 presided over the DRC's first multi-party election in decades, though both that and his victory in 2011 faced accusations of electoral fraud and saw protests. He led an authoritarian government that was known for embezzlement, corruption, and human rights violations, including security forces killing protestors. The United States has sanctioned associates of Kabila for corruption and undermining democracy.
Kabila's term was due to expire on 20 December 2016, according to the DRC's constitution adopted in 2006. Officials suggested that elections would be held in November 2016, but on 29 September 2016, the nation's electoral authority announced that the election would not be held until early 2018. Talk focused on the need for a census before holding elections. Kabila's popularity declined and he also faced growing pressure from the international community to give up power. An agreement was reached with the influential Catholic Church hierarchy to appoint a new government and prepare to hold elections.
Stepping down
In August 2018, Kabila announced that he would step down and not seek a third term in the December 2018 general election. Kabila was succeeded by Félix Tshisekedi in the country's first peaceful transition of power since independence. Independent observers concluded that Tshisikedi lost heavily to another candidate, Martin Fayulu, and that Kabila had fixed the official result for the candidate most likely to be most helpful to him in the latter's post-presidency period.
Making a come-back?
In February 2025, Kabila was reported to be making a come-back, blaming his successor for the chaos created by the military advances of the M23 rebels in eastern DRC.[1]
Related Document
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:M23 and the unseen high-tech genocide | report | 8 November 2013 | Keith Harmon-Snow | Exposé of the criminal deceptions of Western NGOs and their sponsored African elites in the exploitation of African mineral resources |
References
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