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Spotlight

DRC

Tshisekedi eyes up spymaster candidates in the running to fill void left by ousted François Beya

DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi. © Michael Tewelde/Xinhua News Agency/Newscom/maxPPP

At a time of growing tension with neighbouring Rwanda, Félix Tshisekedi is trying to reorganise his country's intelligence apparatus, which has been damaged by the imprisonment of François Beya Kasonga, his former special adviser on security. [...] (1371 words)

Issue dated 15/06/2022 Reading time 6 minutes Olivier Liffran, Joan Tilouine

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Diplomacy

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DRC
African Union
Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Bernard Emié
Claude Ibalanky
Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi
DGSE
Emmanuel Macron
Etienne Tshisekedi
Félix Tshisekedi
Fortunat Biselele
Franck Paris
François Beya Kasonga
Gilbert Kankonde Malamba
IBM
Jean-Baptiste Ekwaki
Jean-Bosco Kazura
Jean-Claude Bukasa
Jean-Hervé Mbelu Biosha
João Lourenço
Joseph Kabila
M23
Marthe Kasalu Jibikila
Mobutu Sese Seko
National Intelligence Agency
Paul Kagame
Philémon Mamba Bwa Zebo
Roland Kashwantale
Roland Kashwantale Chihoza
Rose Mutombo Kiese
Sylvestre Ilunga
UN
Union for Democracy and Social Progress
Zoe Kabila

Nzanga Mobutu fishes for government ministry, wants father's remains repatriated

The son of the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko secretly met with President Félix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa. Nzanga Mobutu, a former minister, is hoping to get back into government and wants his father's remains returned to DR Congo. [...]

Nzanga Mobutu in Washington, DC, USA, October 2021.

DRC Energy Mining 16/01/2023

Oil and mining poised for shake up after major cull in president's office

In a bid to slim down his teams, Félix Tshisekedi has cut the number of colleges advising him while finding new positions for the top aides who have been dismissed such as Marcellin Bilomba or Michel Eboma Ablavi, who are likely to retain their political influence. [...]

DRC RWANDA Politics 23/12/2022

DRC security services detain alleged Rwandan spies

A dozen Rwandan nationals are being held in incommunicado detention by the Congolese security services. At least five are suspected by Kinshasa of being spies in the service of Paul Kagame - an allegation that Kigali denies. [...]

DRC Politics 17/11/2022

How Tshisekedi once tried to negotiate M23 surrender with a million dollars Free

From October 2020 until late 2021, the Tshisekedi administration hosted a delegation of senior members of the M23 rebel group in Kinshasa. Tasked with negotiating the terms of their surrender, the ex-deputy prime minister Gilbert Kankonde Malamba requested a fund of $1. [...]

DRC Politics Diplomacy 15/11/2022

Claude Ibalanky's dealings with M23 embarrass Tshisekedi administration

The head of the National Mechanism for Monitoring the Addis Ababa Framework Agreement, Claude Ibalanky, has been criticised for his handling of the situation with the M23. Africa Intelligence has been given access to the minutes of a meeting where he met the rebel group's leaders. [...]

Roger Lumbala in 2013, then a member of M23. © Isaac Kasamani/AFP

In Focus

DRC Politics 07/11/2022

Former warlord Roger Lumbala's dangerous liaisons with Tshisekedi clan

A former warlord and government minister, Roger Lumbala is accused of complicity in crimes against humanity committed in the early 2000s and is being held in France pending trial. Africa Intelligence delves into the investigation, in which President Félix Tshisekedi and some of his advisers and military officials make an appearance. [...]

Spotlight

FRANCE RWANDA Diplomacy 04/11/2022

Paris and Kigali discreetly strengthen intelligence ties

The head of French military intelligence, Jacques Langlade de Montgros, is due in Kigali in the near future to further promote intelligence cooperation between the two countries. Underway since 2021, this rapprochement has encountered a certain degree of resistance on the French side. [...]

GUINEA Diplomacy 21/10/2022

MEP Marie Arena scrutinises human rights in Guinea

The MEP Marie Arena is considering an emergency resolution on human rights violations allegedly committed in Guinea by the junta led by Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya. [...]

DRC RWANDA Diplomacy 06/10/2022

Rwanda standoff divides Tshisekedi's inner circle

The DRC president's confrontational stance towards Rwanda in his address to the UN General Assembly was in line with that of several of his government colleagues. Other advisers are trying to soften his tone in the hope of conciliation. [...]

Spotlight

DRC Politics 16/09/2022

Cloak and daggers in the highest echelons of the Congolese state

President Tshisekedi's strategic adviser Vidiye Tshimanga has been secretly caught on film meeting two fake investors on several occasions. Parts of these recordings have been made public and they cast an unflattering light on the practices, and also the tensions, within the president's office. [...]

DRC Politics Diplomacy 17/08/2022

François Beya heading to Paris to be treated at the American Hospital

The former Congolese spymaster is due in the French capital at the end of the week. His release from custody is the result of a long plea made by the Beya clan along with African and Western foreign ministries. [...]

DRC Politics 28/07/2022

Kabila's PPRD to hold party conference in September

The committee preparing the next conference of former president Joseph Kabila's Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et la Democratie (PPRD) is to be set up this Friday. [...]

Spotlight

DRC RWANDA Diplomacy 01/07/2022

Diplomatic cat and mouse from New York to Paris over Rwanda's alleged support for M23 rebels

Western capitals and the United Nations remain wary of dealing with the evidence that they say they have concerning Rwanda's support for the rebel M23 movement, much to the displeasure of Kinshasa. [...]

FRANCE RWANDA Defence Diplomacy 23/06/2022

Foreign Legion colonel to lead defence cooperation with Kigali

Paris is continuing its efforts to normalise diplomatic relations with Rwanda through the drafting of a military cooperation programme. This will be entrusted in July to a newly appointed defence attaché. [...]

Spotlight

DRC FRANCE RWANDA Diplomacy 17/06/2022

Macron's fine diplomatic balancing act between Kagame and Tshisekedi

As tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali continue to grow in eastern DRC, a confidential meeting between the French and Rwandan presidents took place in Paris in early June. Emmanuel Macron plans to speak by phone next with Felix Tshisekedi and is backing Angolan mediation. [...]

DRC Diplomacy 13/05/2022

Beya arrest sparks unease from Washington to Kigali

The fate of Felix Tshisekedi's former senior security adviser François Beya, who was arrested and has been detained for nearly 100 days, continues to worry governments on the continent and further afield, who have sent their envoys to Kinshasa to enquire about the former spymaster. [...]

Félix Tshisekedi and Uhuru Kenyatta exchanged by videoconference with the representatives of the armed groups on April 27, 2022. © @Presidence_RDC

Spotlight

EAST AFRICA Politics 04/05/2022

Congolese peace talks at Nairobi's Safari Park Hotel inch forward

President Kenyatta and the Congolese government hope that bringing talks on the stability of eastern DR Congo to Nairobi will give new impetus to the peace negotiations. But the absence of some of the warring parties limits their scope. [...]

DRC Politics Business 22/02/2022

The story behind Lebanese entrepreneur Mahmout Bahja's incarceration in a Congolese gaol

A Lebanese businessman who came to DRC claiming to work on agricultural and livestock projects was quietly arrested in January by the Congolese intelligence service and has been in its hands ever since. Africa Intelligence reveals the circumstances leading up to his arrest. [...]

DRC Politics 10/02/2022

Arrest of Tshisekedi's security adviser spreads ripples from Kigali to Washington

Regional capitals are closely following the case of presidential security adviser Francois Beya, who has strong connections in Brazzaville, Bangui and Luanda and is also well-known in Western security circles, especially in the US, France and Israel. [...]

François Beya Kasongo, special adviser to Félix Tshisekedi on matters of security.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi receiving his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame on June 25, 2021. © DRC Presidency/Twitter

Inner circles

DRC Diplomacy 27/08/2021

Félix Tshisekedi's diplomacy: great international expectations but with neither troops nor resources

In Berlin today at the invitation of Angela Merkel, the DRC president is using every available means to pull his country out of diplomatic isolation. Rather than relying on a diplomatic corps that was largely inherited from his predecessor Joseph Kabila, he has preferred to rely on a group of loyalists from within the presidency. [...]

DRC FRANCE Diplomacy 25/05/2021

DGSE and DRC intelligence chiefs bond on sidelines of Macron-Tshisekedi meet

While in Paris to attend the French summit on African financing on 18 May, the DRC's top intelligence staff met with their French counterparts to further strengthen security cooperation between the two. [...]

French President Emmanuel Macron greets Democratic Republic of the Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi.

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African Union
Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Bernard Emié
Claude Ibalanky
Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi
DGSE
Emmanuel Macron
Etienne Tshisekedi
Félix Tshisekedi
Fortunat Biselele
Franck Paris
François Beya Kasonga
Gilbert Kankonde Malamba
IBM
Jean-Baptiste Ekwaki
Jean-Bosco Kazura
Jean-Claude Bukasa
Jean-Hervé Mbelu Biosha
João Lourenço
Joseph Kabila
M23
Marthe Kasalu Jibikila
Mobutu Sese Seko
National Intelligence Agency
Paul Kagame
Philémon Mamba Bwa Zebo
Roland Kashwantale
Roland Kashwantale Chihoza
Rose Mutombo Kiese
Sylvestre Ilunga
UN
Union for Democracy and Social Progress
Zoe Kabila

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