DRC: Corneille Nangaa joins forces with M23 to create political platform

A few days ahead of the presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, scheduled for December 20th 2023, is causing a stir on the web and leaving public opinion stunned.

The creation of the "Alliance Fleuve Congo" was made official on Friday in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. At the helm is Corneille Nangaa, the former chairman of the Electoral Commission. 

In a video posted on social networks, he openly allied himself with several rebel movements, including the M23, which took up arms against the government in November 2021. 

The movement, which is active in the east of the DRC and, according to sources, supported by Rwanda, was represented in Nairobi by its president Bertrand Bisimwa.

Corneille Nangaa has announced that his platform currently comprises 17 political parties, two political groupings and several armed groups. 

A close associate of former president Joseph Kabila, he is calling on armed groups scouring swathes of the DRC to join his movement.

According to its founder, the aim of the "Alliance Fleuve Congo" is to save the DRC, which has been in a state of chronic instability for three decades, mainly due to the weakness and absence of the state, to re-establish its sovereignty and put an end to insecurity.

Corneille Nangaa is promising a new door to salvation, and says he will do everything in his power to restore stability and create a more suitable economic environment in the face of the failure of the current policy.

Corneille Nangaa, who is at war with Kinshasa, also denounced the "plundering of public property" and "misappropriation of funds".

Corneille Nangaa also thanked the Kenyan authorities for their hospitality. Nairobi, whose soldiers involved in the East African force recently left the DRC, accused of colluding with rebel groups, including the M23. 

The presence of this neo-rebel leader in the Kenyan capital raises questions.

An open war

Since going into exile in recent months, Corneille Nangaa has continued to lash out at Félix Tshisekedi, whose victory in the December 2018 presidential election he had declared. 

Last September, in a tweet, he asserted the existence of an agreement between ex-president Joseph Kabila and his successor: "A political agreement does exist. It preceded the publication of the final results. I am one of its co-authors. This unalterable agreement was signed before witnesses, by President Tshisekedi and his predecessor", Nangaa wrote. 

President Tshisekedi rejected these statements and demanded proof of his allegations.