Investigation: How the Habyarimana network reached the heart of power in Kinshasa

Individuals linked to Rwanda's former genocidal regime’s family developed relationships with influential figures at the highest levels of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's government, amid the ongoing conflict in the country's east. ALSO READ: Kagame says Habyarimana's son travelled to Kinshasa to deepen ties with genocidal militia An investigation published on July 30 by African Facts, an African initiative that carries out investigations to put the facts back at the heart of the conversation, indicates that Kaumbu Mandungu Bula, one of the key advisers to the Congolese presidency, has direct links to Rwanda’s former first family in exile. Members of their network travel between Europe, Kinshasa and the Kivus, while others hold command positions in the Congolese army, states the report which focuses on Bula, commonly known as Kao. Although he maintains a relatively low public profile, Bula is a senior political adviser to President Tshisekedi and one of the most influential figures in the Congolese presidency. ALSO READ: Belgian lawyer on why genocide ideology doesn’t dissolve three decades after dispersion of genocidaires “This war is the tiger the Congolese president is riding – and, as we explain at the end of this article, he probably has fewer ways of staying on it than is generally assumed,” Theo Englebert, the investigative journalist who wrote the report, told The New Times. Englebert explained that since 2022, the Hutu Power forces – namely the Kinshasa-backed FDLR genocidal militia and its splinter groups, as well as the Nyatura militias – have been the only ones capable of effectively fighting the M23 rebellion and, if not holding it at bay, at least slowing it down at times. ALSO READ: Kinshasa-FDLR deal a sidestep from Washington Accords – analysts “He must therefore engage with them.” He added: “Furthermore, it is worth bearing in mind that Tshisekedi spent 26 years in Brussels, within a diaspora community highly porous to the ideology and rhetoric of the Rwandan extremists exiled since 1994 – a discourse that has since seeped into DR Congo and taken root there. And he is now surrounded by a number of people — some of whom are very close to him — who share them.” “What this article demonstrates, with documentary evidence to back it up, is that, since 2023, the Habyarimana family has very influential contacts within the governing coalition: it has a friend in the president's inner circle, and others in the upper echelons of the army, the Wazalendo and FDLR.” According to African Facts, Kao has maintained longstanding ties with members of the family of former Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, whose government carried out the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. ALSO READ: Habyarimana's role in planning, implementing 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi The investigation traces those connections back to the late 2000s, when Kao, then living in Belgium, worked alongside former president Habyarimana’s son Jean-Luc Habyarimana and other members of the former first family on a network of foundations established in DR Congo, the Central African Republic, Belgium and Gabon. ALSO READ: FDLR links to Habyarimana's son raise regional security concerns – report African Facts reports that these organisations were publicly presented as humanitarian initiatives intended to assist vulnerable children and combat social exclusion. However, after examining incorporation records, company documents, financial records, emails and judicial files, the publication says it found no evidence that the foundations carried out charitable activities. Instead, it found, they were linked to offshore corporate structures and financial transactions involving companies registered in jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, Panama, Seychelles and Malta. ALSO READ: Jean‑Luc Habyarimana and the Genocidal nostalgia According to the investigation, documents reviewed by African Facts include emails, notarised documents, investment agreements and banking records indicating financial dealings involving Jean-Luc, members of his extended family and Kao. African Facts also cites French judicial records and materials seized during searches conducted as part of French investigations involving Agathe Kanziga, the former first lady and Akazu leader. ALSO READ: Exclusive: Why the Agathe Kanziga genocide dossier matters Akazu, a Kinyarwanda term for “small hut,” was an informal, highly influential circle of mostly family members, close friends, and loyalists close to Habyarimana and his wife. Operating like a ‘mafia,’ Akazu’s members held sway over government, military, and administration, exercising immense power despite having no formal role. African Facts reports that correspondence from 2009 refers to financial transfers involving Mama Agathe, which it identifies as Agathe Kanziga. ALSO READ: Agathe Habyarimana: France’s useful “victim” of Genocide? Beyond the historical financial links, the investigation maintains that these relationships acquired greater political significance because of Kao's current position within the Congolese presidency. African Facts reports that he has become an influential adviser on issues including security, defence procurement, military cooperation and other strategic matters during the conflict between the Congolese government and the M23 rebel movement. ALSO READ: Former FDLR deputy president on how genocidal militia was formed African Facts also highlights Kao's participation in a meeting with representatives of the Wazalendo coalition in April 2024, during which he encouraged continued mobilisation and recruitment. The Wazalendo – Swahili for patriots – are a loose coalition of pro-government militias and community self-defence groups fighting alongside the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) against the AFC/M23 rebellion in eastern DR Congo. They emerged in late 2022 when Tshisekedi encouraged the country’s youths to organize in resistance to the resurgence of the M23 rebellion.

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Investigation: How the Habyarimana network reached the heart of power in Kinshasa