By Sonia Rolley and Ange Kasongo
(Reuters) – Congo’s former President Joseph Kabila has initiated talks with opposition politicians about the country’s political future as Rwanda-backed rebels seize territory in the east, five sources familiar with the outreach told Reuters.
The discussions, which have also involved civil society members, represent a potential additional threat to current President Felix Tshisekedi who has faced criticism over his response to the unprecedented advance by M23 rebels.
Tshisekedi and Kabila once formed an awkward power-sharing deal following Congo’s disputed 2018 election, but Tshisekedi eventually began chipping away at his predecessor’s influence while accusing him of blocking reforms.
The two men’s relationship soured to the point that, as M23 marched on east Congo’s second-largest city of Bukavu last month, Tshisekedi told the Munich Security Conference that Kabila had sponsored the insurgency.
Kabila did not make any public statements on the crisis or respond to the accusation until he published an op-ed in a South African newspaper on February 23 that accused Tshisekedi of violating the constitution, committing human rights abuses and bringing Congo to the brink of civil war.
The ex-president has been equally withering in private, according to sources that either spoke to Kabila directly or had knowledge of his recent exchanges with opposition politicians and civil society members.
One source who spoke to Kabila said the message was that “the Tshisekedi regime is soon over”.
“We will see what they do,” said the source, who did not wish to be named due to the sensitivity of the discussions.
TRANSITION BROACHED
All the sources said that, while Kabila and his lieutenants had spoken about some kind of political transition, there was no clear plan or details about how this might potentially unfold.
The talks have been private, though Kabila met openly in December in Addis Ababa with opposition leaders Moise Katumbi and Claudel Lubaya.
Asked for comment on Thursday on Kabila’s reported outreach to the opposition, a spokesperson for Katumbi, former governor of Congo’s copper-rich Katanga province, referred Reuters to past statements criticising Tshisekedi.
Lubaya, for his part, told Reuters on Thursday: “The sky is grey and the outcome uncertain for the country since Tshisekedi seems more concerned with retaining his power than with finding a solution.”
In a rare interview this week with the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation, Kabila called for an inclusive peace process but was vague about his own goals.
“Only God knows. Our intentions are to be very much available to serve our country, serve our people,” Kabila said after attending the funeral of Namibia’s former President Sam Nujoma and meeting several African leaders.
Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, one of Kabila’s political party leaders, told Reuters that while it would be “good” to exclude Tshisekedi from talks about Congo’s political future, it was important to respect the constitution.
Tshisekedi announced on February 22 that he would launch a unity government, though that plan has not yet been implemented.
Tshisekedi’s government is wary of Kabila. A Congolese security source and a senior government official told Reuters this week that authorities had blocked a Kabila-owned boat on Lake Tanganyika on suspicion it would be used to transport weapons to groups that would side with M23.
Nehemie Mwilanya Wilondja, a former chief of staff for Kabila, said officials had failed to show any evidence for those allegations.
Congo, U.N. experts and Western powers accuse Rwanda of backing M23. Rwanda denies this and says it is defending itself against ethnic Hutu-led militias bent on slaughtering Tutsis in Congo and threatening Rwanda.
Mwilanya said the current crisis was reminiscent of 2001 when Kabila took office after the assassination of his father.
Then, as now, forces from Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi were active on Congo’s soil, threatening the government in Kinshasa.
Mwilanya said Kabila, aged 29 when he was sworn in as president, had managed to navigate the crisis far better than Tshisekedi has.
“Given the state the country is in, who should be blamed?” Mwilanya said. “Or better, who should be saved? Congo or its rulers?”
(Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet; Editing by Sofia Christensen and Gareth Jones)
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