By Tinotenda Hove

Joseph Kabila, the former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has announced that he will return to the country and immediately address the ongoing crisis in the eastern region. Having been in South Africa since 2023, Kabila expressed his desire to help resolve the conflict that has led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. However, his return could intensify an already volatile political climate in the country.

President Felix Tshisekedi, who is under increasing pressure to bring an end to the violence, has publicly accused Kabila of supporting the M23 rebels, a claim that Kabila’s supporters firmly deny.

The key question now is whether Kabila’s return will help ease the tensions or further fuel the divisions within the DRC’s political landscape.

“I’ve decided to start with the eastern part of the country, because there’s a real danger,” Kabila told Congolese news portal Actualite. While Kabila has committed to returning “without delay,” he did not specify an exact timeline for his arrival.

Kabila, who led the DRC from 2001 until 2019, has been living in South Africa since the end of his presidency. President Tshisekedi has previously accused Kabila of supporting the M23 rebels, a claim which Kabila’s camp has strongly dismissed as “baseless.”