KINSHASA, Congo — Congo's former President Joseph Kabila on Friday accused the government of turning into a dictatorship with the backing of the parliament a day after the Senate voted to lift his immunity to pave the way for his prosecution for alleged treason and war crimes.
Kabila, who led Congo from 2001 to 2019, is accused by the government of supporting the Rwanda-backed rebels that have seized two major cities in the country's conflict-battered east. He had been in self-imposed exile since 2023 until April when he arrived in the key city of Goma in the east.
His arrival, his associates had said, was to help resolve the decades-long conflict in the region which escalated in January when the M23 rebels made an unprecedented advance into the region.
At a hearing on Thursday, Congo's Senate voted overwhelmingly to grant the government's request and lift the lifetime immunity Kabila had enjoyed because of his honorific title as senator for life.
Among Kabila's alleged crimes include ''treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and participation in an insurrectional movement'' in the country's east, Justice Minister Constant Mutamba said.
However, in his first public speech since leaving power, Kabila criticized the government's move, accusing Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi of turning the country into a ''dictatorship''. The country's parliament has become the ''rubber stamp for the will of a single person,'' he said.
Kabila also said he remains committed to Congo's future, adding: ''Better than anyone, you know that, for me, Congo is the absolute priority; that its sovereignty and territorial integrity are non-negotiable; that my commitment to democracy, national cohesion, peace and stability is not an empty slogan."
The former Congolese leader has previously denied supporting the M23 rebels in eastern Congo, despite repeated claims from Tshisekedi and the government that he was backing them and ''preparing an insurrection'' in the east.
