Wayne Lumbasi (Opinion)
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has dropped a bombshell on the world stage. A military court in Kinshasa has sentenced former President Joseph Kabila to death in absentia, branding him guilty of treason, war crimes, and collusion with rebel groups. On paper, it sounds like justice finally catching up with a leader who once ruled with an iron grip. In reality, this looks less like justice and more like a dangerous political witch hunt.
Kabila was never present in court. He never stood before a judge to answer the accusations. Instead, a closed-door process declared him guilty, seized his property, stripped away his immunity, and even banned his political party. If this is accountability, then screams that it is accountability without fairness. Congo’s rulers seem less interested in exposing truth than in burying a rival once and for all.
This case reeks of politics. The charges mirror the government’s own propaganda that Kabila has long been conspiring with rebels to destabilize the east. But if the evidence is so overwhelming, why not present it openly, with Kabila present, before the eyes of the world? Justice cannot survive in the shadows. What survives in the shadows is vengeance.
The verdict is not only about Kabila. It sets a terrifying precedent for Congo’s fragile democracy. Today it is Kabila. Tomorrow it could be any opposition figure who dares to challenge the state. The line between justice and political revenge has been blurred to the point of invisibility.
And the stakes are bigger than Kinshasa. This decision may ignite fresh unrest in a country already bleeding from endless wars in the east. It may also isolate Congo internationally, as partners and observers question whether this was a trial or a stage-managed execution.
For now, the question lingers over Kinshasa: was this a bold step toward justice, or was it simply the burial of a political rival under the guise of law?
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