Thousands of pro-government supporters took to the streets of the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, on Monday in support of United States sanctions against Joseph Kabila.
Washington blacklisted the former president last week, accusing him of supporting the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and its political-military arm, the Congo River Alliance (AFC), involved in the conflict in the east of the country.
The Treasury Department claimed that, among other things, Kabila has provided them with financial and technological support with the intent to destabilise the Kinshasa government.
Violent conflict in the region has resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and a mass displacement crisis.
Speaking at Monday’s march, Julien, a member of one of the parties in the DRC’s ruling coalition, commended Washington’s decision to impose sanctions on Kabila.
“Kabila has committed many massacres, and he won’t let Fatshi [President Tshisekedi’s nickname] get on with his work in peace,” he said.
“Now arrest Kabila so that he leaves us in peace, we want nothing more to do with him,” said Julien.
Ouragan Mwanza, an activist with the main UDPS party, described the sanctions as a “significant step” against “the murderers and criminals.”
“[They] have destroyed this country, reduced it to ruins, and shattered all its values by dismantling state-owned companies for the benefit of their own private, family-run businesses,” he said.
Last year, a Congolese military court sentenced Kabila to death in absentia for treason for “complicity” with the M23/AFC alliance.
The government in Kinshasa on Friday said it welcomed the sanctions as “an important step in the fight against impunity.”
Kabila, meanwhile, has described them as “profoundly unjustified, politically motivated, and based on unsubstantiated accusations.”
Fighting in the mineral-rich eastern DRC continues, despite a framework peace deal signed between the government and the M23 late last year.
Washington has already imposed sanctions on the DRC’s neighbour, Rwanda, in an attempt to enforce the unsuccessful agreement.
The peace accord, which US President Donald Trump announced with great fanfare, includes a provision for US industries to gain privileged access to the region’s mineral riches.
The Rwanda-backed rebels have seized large swathes of the eastern DRC in a major push in recent years, capturing the strategic town of Goma in January 2025.
Thousands of civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in the intensified fighting, which has created a major humanitarian crisis.
