Kabila’s wife claims that Congolese security forces are persecuting her in the DR Congo turmoil

Since April 15, images of Congolese security officers entering the former president’s home have been making the rounds on social media.

According to reports, Olive Lembe, the wife of former Congolese President Joseph Kabila, is being persecuted by the nation’s security forces. Despite her husband’s recent announcement that he is returning to the country after a year in exile, Lembe, who married Kabila in 2006, still lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In order to “deal with the worsening situation,” in eastern DR Congo, where a government coalition has been battling the AFC/M23 rebels for more than three years, Kabila announced in early March that he had halted his studies in South Africa. Goma and Bukavu, two important cities, are now under rebel control.

“This regime and the security services are persecuting us,” Lembe stated in a Thursday, April 17 interview with local media.

“They are persecuting us and purposefully tarnishing the reputation of our actions.”

Kabila declared, “Given the worsening security situation, I have decided to return home without delay to contribute to resolving the crisis,” following six years of political silence.

Since April 15, images of Congolese security officers entering the former president’s home have been making the rounds on social media.

Robert Kayinamura, Rwanda’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, emphasized during the Security Council meeting on the Peace, Security, and Cooperation Framework (PSCF) on April 16 that even implicitly supporting or legitimizing the FDLR, a militia based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that was founded by former perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, prolongs the conflict in eastern DR Congo and further destabilizes the region.

Kayinamura reaffirmed the PSCF’s shared commitment to tackling the underlying causes of instability and fostering mutual trust amongst the region’s nations and peoples in order to put an end to the ongoing cycle of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes Region.

But over 12 years later, the same issues still exist, he added, adding that the persistence of both domestic and foreign armed groups that represent serious threats to the area highlights the framework’s central tenet of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration.

Together with the Burundian national army and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC), among other armed organizations, the murderous militia was incorporated into the Congolese army, FARDC, with the intention of attacking Rwanda.

This year, their strategy failed when Goma, the capital of the North Kivu Province in eastern DR Congo, which borders Rwanda, was overrun by AFC/M23 rebels.