Kabila Launches Congo Coalition Including M23 Rebels

Former Congolese president Joseph Kabila was named leader of the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN), launched in Goma on October 12, 2026 and described as succeeding the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC). AFC spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka named Corneille Nangaa, Bertrand Bisimwa and Sultani Makenga as three vice-presidents, with Makenga keeping his post as chief of general staff of the Congolese Revolutionary Army. Adviser Claude Ibalanky announced Nangaa, Bisimwa, Freddy Kaniki and Makenga as Kabila's deputies. Bisimwa and Makenga led the M23 rebellion that began in 2012 and ended after defeat in November 2013; Makenga then surrendered in Uganda. Nangaa, Kabila's electoral commission chair from 2015, oversaw the disputed 2018 vote that brought Félix Tshisekedi to power and ended Kabila's 2001–2019 rule; replaced in 2021, Nangaa later broke with Tshisekedi. In a Friday address Kabila accused the government of corruption, poor governance and military failures and criticized a US minerals agreement. He visited rebel-held Goma in 2025. A military court sentenced Kabila to death in absentia in September 2025 for treason, war crimes and crimes against humanity; he denied the charges. The announcement does not state whether M23 is dissolved or how FRN alters existing AFC structures. Kabila had denied supporting the rebellion.