Officials from the party of DR Congo's former President Joseph Kabila have been invited to appear before a military prosecutor on Monday, March 10, Reuters reported. The exact reason for the invitations was not clear, said Jean Mbuyu, a lawyer for the officials and former security advisor to Kabila. ALSO READ: Kabila suspends his studies to ‘deal with worsening situation’ in eastern DR Congo But President Felix Tshisekedi, who once formed an awkward power-sharing deal with Kabila, has recently accused him of sponsoring the M23 rebels who have seized eastern DR Congo's two biggest cities since January. Kabila has also reached out to opposition politicians and civil society members to discuss the country's political future, amid criticism of Tshisekedi's response to M23's military campaign. The military prosecutor's office sent about 10 invitation letters to members of Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy, though only three people were expected to appear for questioning in the capital Kinshasa on Monday, Mbuyu said. ALSO READ: DR Congo crisis: Kabila calls for removal of foreign troops They included Aubin Minaku, vice president of the party and former president of the National Assembly, and Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a former interior minister and presidential candidate, Mbuyu said. We're going to listen because the invitation contains no reason, he told Reuters. Minaku said the officials would respond to the invitations to avoid any suspicion and denied links to M23 or any other armed groups. We are taking a purely Republican approach, not one of rebellion, he told Reuters, using Republican to indicate loyalty to the country. We clearly denounced any illicit presence of foreign forces, he said. ALSO READ: Kabila urges South Africa not to support Tshisekedi’s ‘tyrannical regime’ Kabila, who left office in early 2019, recently criticized Tshisekedi of mismanaging the crisis in eastern DR Congo and bringing the country “close to imploding.” Kabila, who ruled the country for 18 years, has also called for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from DR Congo “to give the Congolese the flexibility to talk about ... peace” as was done in the early 2000s. Despite losing Goma and Bukavu cities in less than two months, Tshisekedi has denied any peace talks with the M23 rebels, who are part of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC). He has also accused Kabila of being behind the AFC. Kabila said in an interview with Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) that DR Congo was in an “an undesirable situation” due to the thousands of foreign troops on its territory. These include SADC forces, Burundians, and European mercenaries, in addition to a host of militias fighting alongside the Congolese army against the AFC/M23 rebels.
