Kabila Takes Charge of M23 Alliance: Kinshasa Says He Is Formalising an Attack on the StateKabila Takes Charge of M23 Alliance: Kinshasa Says He Is Formalising an Attack on the State

The shift matters beyond Congo's borders because it changes who sits across the table in the Qatar-mediated peace process and raises the stakes for East African businesses with exposure to the country's east. Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said on Friday that Kabila "has decided to formalise his widespread attack against the Republic".

What was launched

Kabila, 55, launched the Front pour la Refondation de la Nation (FRN) on Monday 12 October 2026 from his residence in Goma. It replaces the M23-AFC alliance, which is fighting government forces and holds large areas of territory in the east.

Corneille Nangaa, the former elections commissioner who founded the Congo River Alliance, and Bertrand Bisimwa, an M23 spokesman, are deputies. Freddy Kaniki, a senior M23 health official, is secretary-general, and M23's Sultani Makenga is army chief. Coalition spokesman Claude Ibalanky said the movement will "put an end to tyranny by any means necessary, including the use of force".

Kinshasa's response

Muyaya also said that "the choice to take up arms means killing Congolese in order to try to conquer territories". In a speech posted online on Friday, Kabila accused the government of being "motivated solely by its own perpetuation in power".

A military court in Kinshasa sentenced Kabila to death in October 2025 on treason, war crimes and other charges, and Washington sanctioned him in April, alleging he funded rebel groups. He has denied initiating the Congo River Alliance. The reports reviewed by Mwenendo carry no formal statement from the government on the launch itself.

Peace talks under strain

The Democratic Republic of Congo and M23-AFC signed the Doha Framework last November, and the two sides were scheduled to meet this month. Reports do not say whether that meeting is still going ahead.

Bram Verelst of the Institute for Security Studies expects Kinshasa to harden its position towards the rebels and Kabila, and possibly to try to isolate them regionally. Rwanda, which the United States and the United Nations accuse of backing M23, denies the allegation, and a separate US-led agreement between Kinshasa and Kigali dates from June 2025.

The political backdrop is also unsettled. Opposition rallies in June and September 2026 protested a proposed constitutional amendment that could allow a third term for President Félix Tshisekedi, whose second and constitutionally final term ends in 2028. The main opposition coalition has kept its distance from Kabila.

Why Kenyan and regional business should watch

Eastern Congo is part of the trade and banking footprint of East African firms. Mwenendo earlier reported on how Equity Group's Congo unit earned KSh 11.8B ($91.47M) after tax in the half-year, showing how much of a Kenyan lender's profit now comes from outside Kenya.

As Mwenendo earlier reported, the Africa Finance Corporation is developing the Lobito corridor linking Congolese and Zambian mines to Angola's Atlantic coast, a reminder that the region's minerals trade is under strategic attention.

No official figures have been published on how the alliance affects Northern Corridor transit volumes, exporters or bank operations, and Mwenendo has not seen any. The signals to watch are whether the Doha meeting takes place and how Kinshasa responds to the FRN in the coming weeks.