24 December 2025 :

December 23, 2025 - Democratic Republic of Congo. In defence of Joseph Kabila

A friend of Hand off Cain, Dominique Gaillard, born in Congo and naturalised Italian, sends us a “memorandum” on the plight of human rights in Congo, and an impassioned defence of a political leader sentenced to death, Joseph Kabila.

For lovers of good reading, Congo is “Heart of Darkness” and Kurtz, (which the Americans will later re-set in Cambodia with “Apocalypse now”, where Kurtz is made a colonel). For boxing lovers, Congo (which for a period of its existence was called Zaire) is Kinshasa, where in 1974 the most famous bout in boxing history took place, the “Rumble in the Jungle” in which the two black heavyweight champions, Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, challenged each other. For those who know the history of European colonialism in Africa, the Congo had the misfortune to have had to endure the game of Belgium, the most obtuse in living memory, where the king (Leopold) considered the colony his personal possession, and pocketed all the proceeds, leaving nothing in return, neither schools, nor hospitals, nor institutions that knew how to go beyond simple and brutal “robbery”.
What is happening for Hands off Cain in Congo is what we are reporting about Tanzania with Tundu Lissu: also in Congo, as in Tanzania, the opposition leader is accused of high treason, and threatened with a death sentence.
Accusing those who disagree with the government of “treason” is a strong sign of involution in nations like Tanzania and Congo, which had achieved good standards of democracy in the past.
In this article, the young, but not naive, Gaillard argues that the West should pay more attention to the vicissitudes of Joseph Kabila, a man who for almost 20 years was Congo's esteemed president, and today instead lives in hiding in exile because a death sentence handed down by a military court in September 2025 hangs over his head.
Given the complexity of the situation, I have added notes. (Valerio Fioravanti)

23 December 2025

The Democratic Republic of Congo* is today experiencing an unprecedented institutional, political and security crisis, which calls into question not only the legitimacy of power, but the very existence of the state as a guarantor of sovereignty, security and fundamental freedoms. The 2023 elections, marked by generalised chaos, constitutional violations, serious technical dysfunctions and documented allegations of fraud, have definitively shattered citizens' trust in institutions. The electoral process, instead of consolidating democracy, accelerated the delegitimisation of the state and aggravated an already deep rift between the political class and the Congolese people.

Since December 2020**, the country has entered a phase of authoritarian drift: political persecution, repression of civil society, closure of spaces of freedom, instrumental use of justice and militarisation of dissent. The bloody repression of peaceful demonstrators is a dramatic and symbolic watershed of this involution. At the same time, the state's inability to guarantee security has favoured the rise of the AFC-M23*** and the loss of strategic cities such as Goma and Bukavu, marking a collapse of state authority and a historical defeat both territorially and symbolically.

In this context of chaos, repression and institutional bewilderment, the figure of Joseph Kabila*** emerges not as nostalgia for the past, but as a historical, political and moral reference for understanding what it means to govern a fragile state without destroying its foundations. Defending and protecting Joseph Kabila means defending a national heritage rooted in the history of Congo's liberation, independence and reconstruction.

Son of Laurent-Désiré Kabila, the man who ended 32 years of Mobutu's dictatorship and who never forgave the betrayal that culminated in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, Joseph Kabila grew up between exile and resistance.

To complete the human and political portrait of Joseph Kabila, one of his phrases, pronounced in front of the notables of Katanga, remains emblematic: ‘Dans la vie, assez souvent, il faut parler seulement quand on a des mots qui sont plus forts que le silence.’ Which, translated, means ‘In life, very often, one must speak only when one has words that are stronger than silence.’

This phrase sums up the nature of a man forged by resistance, sacrifice and a sense of the state, far removed from the politics of spectacle and the rhetoric of hatred, and deeply attached to the values of responsibility and institutional dignity.

When in 2001, at only 29 years of age, he suddenly found himself at the head of the country, he inherited a fragmented Congo, occupied by armed groups, without a national army, without unity and without a state. It was during this crucial period, between 2001 and 2006, that Joseph Kabila demonstrated a rare political wisdom: he chose the path of dialogue, inclusive agreements and national reconciliation, rather than that of revenge or repression. He managed the numerous rebellions with balance, restarted the process of territorial reunification and accompanied the country towards the 2006 Constitution, which marked the birth of the Third Republic.

This path culminated in the first truly national and pluralist elections in the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a historic event that restored institutional dignity to the country and reintegrated it into the international community. Under his presidency, the State is gradually rebuilt, the Armed Forces reorganised and Congo chooses a balanced foreign policy favouring multilateral cooperation without renouncing its sovereignty.

The Congo left by Joseph Kabila in 2018 was not a paradise, but it was a functioning state with recognisable institutions, a structured army and a territory largely under government control. Above all, it was a country where the constitution was respected, as evidenced by the peaceful handover of power after two presidential terms, a rare gesture in the African context.

Today in Congo, Joseph Kabila's name is unpronounceable. Anyone who is close to him now, or has been close to him in the past, lives in fear. The fact that a former president who respected the Constitution is forced into exile is the clearest sign of the democratic regression taking place. A country that persecutes its political memory and criminalises pluralism is a country that has lost its reference points.

Protecting Joseph Kabila therefore means protecting values that are trampled underfoot today: respect for institutions, the culture of dialogue, the centrality of the state, territorial integrity and national sovereignty. In a Congo where foreign mercenaries are resorted to while the national army is humiliated, where justice is an instrument of repression and single-mindedness stifles all dissent, the figure of Joseph Kabila remains that of a silent leader, perhaps imperfect, but guided by strong ideals and a profound sense of the State.

The current crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo is not just a crisis of power: it is a crisis of memory, values and vision. And this is why Joseph Kabila, for what he represents historically and symbolically, continues to be a fundamental asset to defend for those who still believe in a sovereign, united and truly democratic Congo.

Joseph Kabila Kabange, son of Laurent Désiré Kabila and Sifa Mahanya*** is ‘l'homme qu'il faut à la place qu'il faut’ for the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dominique Gaillard

 * Congo is an important nation in Central Africa, the second largest in Africa (after Algeria), with 120 million inhabitants. The Congo was first a Portuguese, then a Dutch and finally a Belgian colony. It gained independence (by fighting) in 1960. For a period (1971 to 1997) it was called Zaire.
It should be noted that there are 2 Congo's: Republic of Congo (Congo- Brazzaville) and Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo- Kinshasa), or former French Congo, and former Belgian Congo. Both, due to colonialism, have a very strong Christian majority.
Congo- Brazzaville has 6 million inhabitants, Congo- Kinshasa has 120.

Dominique Gaillard tells us about the second Congo, the larger one, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), whose name can be misleading because of the adjective “democratic”, which would make one think of a satellite country of the Soviet Union, which Congo has never been. Rather, its leaders, both during the Cold War and today, have kept themselves in the balance between the various geopolitical power blocs, seeking to make the most of the fact that they have often been the balance of power in the area.

** The Democratic Republic of the Congo, like practically all African nations, has gone through moments of optimism and enthusiasm for the end of colonialism, and setbacks/backlashes, returning to conditions worse than those of colonialism.
The story of Kabila the son cannot be told except by starting from the story of Kabila the father.
At the age of 21, Kabila the father had played a prominent role in the anti-colonial movement of Patrice Lumumba, who had gained independence from Belgium in 1960. There followed brief periods of democratic attempts punctuated by the predictable military coups. A pro-Western (but also profoundly anti-colonial) dictator, Mobutu, held power for 32 years, until he was forced into flight and exile in 1997 by forces coordinated by Lumumba father, who became president. Lumumba father was killed in 2001 by a man from his security detail in a coup attempt. Kabila son (born in 1971), who in the meantime had received advanced military training in China, took power, and at the age of 29 became the new president of Congo. A Protestant married to a Catholic, Joseph Kabila was confirmed as president in 2006 and 2011 in elections that international observers described as democratic and transparent. In December 2018, however, he was beaten by Felix Tshisekedi, son of the former prime minister under Mobutu. Upon leaving office as President he became, as the constitution requires, a senator for life.
Joseph Kabila, historians recognise, played a key role in the peace process leading to the end of what is called “the second Congo war” (1998-2003), or even “Africa's first world war” because of the number of states involved and the complexity of the alliances.
It was a particularly wide-ranging and complex conflict, with the DRC and its allies Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe on one front, and Rwanda and Uganda on the opposite front, supporting various rebel groups, local militias and foreign armed groups (especially Rwandan Hutus). The war caused millions of direct and indirect deaths, mainly from starvation, disease and displacement.
In the course of the war, Kabila the father was assassinated in January 2001, and his place was taken by Kabila the son. His leadership marked a turning point:
- He reopens dialogue with the international community.
- He resumes and accelerates the implementation of the stalled 1999 Lusaka Accords.
- He encourages the gradual withdrawal of foreign troops (Rwandan and Ugandan) and the arrival of UN forces (MONUC).
- He led the country towards the Sun City Agreement (2002-2003), which established a transitional government with him as president.
- The process culminated in the Pretoria Accord (2002), which sanctioned Rwanda's withdrawal in exchange for a Congolese commitment to disarm the Hutu militias that, based in Congolese territory, were making frequent incursions into Rwanda.

Because, we must remember, the Congo has always been at loggerheads with another victim of obtuse Belgian colonialism, Rwanda. And Rwanda is the nation that in 1994 was shaken by a wave of massacres carried out by the ethnic Hutu (85% of the population) against the ethnic Tutsi minority (14% of the population). When the Tutsis had fought back, supported by Uganda and the many Tutsis who had expatriated in the preceding decades and reassembled into an armed formation that proved more efficient than the brutal but improvised Hutu armies, the defeated Hutus had fled to the neighbouring Congo (then called Zaire). From Congo armed Hutu bands continued for years to launch further attacks against the Tutsis, and more generally against the Rwandan government that had ousted them.

*** Among the fanciful accusations that the new Congolese regime circulates against Joseph Kabila is that he is not himself, but a Rwandan “enemy” pretending to be Congolese.