DR Congo crisis: Kabila’s wife says persecuted by Congolese security agencies

Olive Lembe, the wife of former Congolese President Joseph Kabila, has reported that she is facing persecution at the hands of the country’s security agencies. Lembe, who married Kabila in 2006, continues to reside in DR Congo even though her husband has been in exile for over a year before his recent announcement that he is returning to the country. ALSO READ: Kabila: DR Congo should stop blame games and fix its problems Kabila said in early March that he had suspended his studies in South Africa to deal with the worsening situation, in eastern DR Congo, where a government coalition has been fighting the AFC/M23 rebels for over three years. The rebels now control the strategic cities of Goma and Bukavu. “It is persecution that we are suffering from the security services and this regime,” Lembe said in an interview with local media on Thursday, April 17. “They are persecuting us and deliberately damaging the image of our activities.” ALSO READ: Kabila urges South Africa not to support Tshisekedi’s ‘tyrannical regime’ After six years of political silence, Kabila announced that, “Given the worsening security situation, I have decided to return home without delay to contribute to resolving the crisis.” Photos have been circulating on social media since April 15, showing Congolese security forces occupying the former president’s residence. ALSO READ: SADC requests troops’ safe passage from eastern DR Congo through Rwanda Entertaining or legitimizing the FDLR, a DR Congo-based militia formed by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda –even tacitly, prolongs the conflict in eastern DR Congo and destabilizes the region further, Robert Kayinamura, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Rwanda at the UN, stressed on April 16 during the Security Council meeting on the Peace, Security, and Cooperation Framework (PSCF). ALSO READ: Kwibuka31: Why FDLR presence in DR Congo poses a regional threat Kayinamura reiterated that the PSCF was collective commitment to end the recurring cycle of conflict in DR Congo and the Great Lakes Region by addressing the root causes of instability and building mutual trust among states and peoples of the region. However, more than 12 years later, the very same challenges remain unaddressed, he said, adding that the continued presence of foreign and domestic armed groups which pose significant threats to the region, puts the framework’s key pillar of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration on spotlight. The genocidal militia has been integrated in the Congolese army, FARDC, in a coalition with the Burundian national army, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC), among other military entities, which planned to attack Rwanda. Their plot failed this year after AFC/M23 rebels took control of Goma, the capital of eastern DR Congo’s North Kivu Province, which borders Rwanda.

News

DR Congo crisis: Kabila’s wife says persecuted by Congolese security agencies