Thousands of pro-government supporters marched through the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, on Monday to support US sanctions on Joseph Kabila.
Last week, Washington blacklisted the former president, accusing him of aiding the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and its political-military branch, the Congo River Alliance (AFC), which are participating in the violence in the country’s east.
The Treasury Department stated that, among other things, Kabila supplied them with financial and technological assistance with the intention of destabilising the Kinshasa government.
Thousands of civilians have died as a result of the region’s violent conflict, which has also caused a mass displacement catastrophe.
At Monday’s march, Julien, a member of the DRC’s ruling coalition, praised Washington’s decision to put sanctions on Kabila.”Kabila has committed many massacres, and he will not allow Fatshi [President Tshisekedi’s nickname] to carry out his work in peace,” he claimed.
“Now arrest Kabila so that he leaves us in peace, we want nothing more to do with him,” remarked Julien.
Ouragan Mwanza, an activist with the dominant UDPS party, characterised the punishments as a “significant step” against “the murderers and criminals.”[They] have ruined this country, put it to rubble, and shattered all of its principles by dissolving state-owned companies in favour of their own private, family-run firms,” he stated.
Last year, a Congolese military court sentenced Kabila to death in absentia for treason and “complicity” with the M23/AFC alliance.
Kinshasa’s administration hailed the sanctions on Friday, calling them “an important step in the fight against impunity.”
Kabila has described them as “profoundly unjustified, politically motivated, and based on unsubstantiated accusations.”
Fighting in the mineral-rich eastern DRC continues, despite a framework peace agreement negotiated late last year by the government and the M23.
Washington has already slapped penalties on Rwanda, the DRC’s neighbour, in an attempt to enforce the failed accord.
The peace pact, which US President Donald Trump unveiled with considerable pomp, includes a provision that allows US firms preferential access to the region’s mineral resources.
In recent years, Rwanda-backed rebels have overrun huge swaths of eastern DRC, including the crucial town of Goma, which was captured in January 2025.
The escalated conflict has killed thousands of civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands, resulting in a massive humanitarian disaster.
