Arrivé directement de Goma sous occupation, Kikaya Bin Karubi, collaborateur proche de l’ancien président Joseph Kabila – accusé par Félix Tshisekedi de diriger la rébellion soutenue par le Rwanda dans l’Est du pays – séjourne depuis quelques jour
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DRC: Kabila activates its networks in Washington
Saturday, June 14, 2025 - 07:33
Arrived directly from Goma under occupation, Kikaya Bin Karubi, a close collaborator of former President Joseph Kabila - accused by Félix Tshisekedi of leading the rebellion supported by Rwanda in the east of the country - has been staying for a few days in Washington DC, where he claims to be carrying out an explanatory mission. It was in the American capital that ACTUALITE.CD met him.
While the delegates of Kinshasa and Kigali flock to Washington to negotiate the peace plan initiated by the United States, which aims to reach an agreement between the two parties to the conflict by next July, a major player in the crisis, who has remained behind American diplomacy so far, is trying to make himself heard and assert his arguments before the authorities in Washington. Joseph Kabila, Felix Tshisekedi's predecessor at the head of the country, mandated one of his closest collaborators, Kikaya Bin Karubi, to the American capital. A mission that coincides with the presence also for a few days in Washington of the opponent Moïse Katumbi, already received at the State Department, and who should, in parallel with his contacts with the Trump administration, participate in the Club World Cup which will take place from June 15 in several American cities.
"I came to meet the officials of the Congress, the House of Representatives, the National Security Council, some circles who are thinking about the issue of the DRC and in particular organizations such as Human Rights Watch," says to ACTUALITE.CD Kikaya Bin Karubi, met Thursday between two appointments near the White House.
The goal, hammers Kikaya Bin Karubi, collaborator for 25 years and one of the main advisors of the former Congolese president from 2001 to 2019, "is to explain the merits of Joseph Kabila's active return to politics, defend Kabila's political family, his ideas and make people understand the real situation of the country that is experiencing a catastrophe with the current regime. The main message is the one contained in his speech and presented to American decision-makers: the peace plan proposed by Joseph Kabila which aims to end tyranny.
On May 26, Joseph Kabila returned to the DRC by the city of Goma, ending an exile that began in December 2023, after, in his first address to the nation since 2019, launched a violent criticism against the governance of his successor Félix Tshisekedi. He then announced his intention to return to the provincial capital of North Kivu, which fell under the control of the rebels and their Rwandan supporters in January, to play an active role and, according to his terms, put an end to the dictatorship and tyranny of Felix Tshisekedi. "President Kabila's objectives are not in contradiction with those of the rebellion. They all aim to end Tshisekedi's tyranny, "says Kikaya Bin Karubi.
If international diplomats and observers strongly question the true intentions of Joseph Kabila, whose choice to return to Goma raises many questions about a possible alliance with the rebels or a bold political strategy, Félix Tshisekedi, his successor, fears that this return is only a prelude to an attempt to overthrow by force, aimed at restoring Kabila to power.
Since the lifting of his immunities on May 22, Joseph Kabila has been the target of serious accusations made by the auditor general at the High Military Court, who charges him in particular with "treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and participation in an insurrectionary movement", because of his alleged support for the M23 rebellion, supported by Rwanda. "We know that the next step is that beyond his property that is confiscated, they want to issue an international arrest warrant against Kabila," adds Kikaya.
While the Congolese government accuses Kabila of being secured in Goma by a defeated rebellion in 2013 and by Rwandan soldiers, Kabila's entourage maintains that the latter, "stripped" of his custody by Félix Tshisekedi before his exile, has formed his own guard composed of several elements that are with him "everywhere, and even in Goma".
Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala, in Washington
