Is former DRC President Joseph Kabila on the run?

Joseph Kabila Kabange in UAE

So much is going on in the life of Joseph Kabila Kabange, the former President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), lately, after his failed third term bid and the recent collapse of the coalition government formed between him and his successor, President Félix Tshisekedi.

Is Kabila on the run? Do events back home have anything to do with anything?

Mid this February, Tshisekedi appointed 43-year-old Sama Lukonde Kyenge as prime minister, replacing Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba, a Kabila ally ousted at the end of January.

Ilunga, 73, then one of the last remaining bulwarks of the pro-Joseph Kabila majority in the national assembly, was removed from office on January 27 after lawmakers voted him out through a motion of no confidence.

The plenary session that voted him out took place without his attendance as he had scuttled to Lubumbashi, in the Haut-Katanga Province, to consult with his boss. The former president, it is reported, relocated to the greater Katanga area mid last December where he was purportedly refining his strategy to counter Tshisekedi’s manoeuvres to take full control in Kinshasa. Or is he, perhaps, looking ahead to the 2023 presidential election? Time will tell.

Ilunga's exit also came one month after the ouster of national assembly president Jeanine Mabunda, who, like Ilunga, is aligned with the pro-Kabila camp.

Reports indicate that the former Congolese President arrived in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on February 22 and there is still no indication that he has left the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

His camp said he went there - from Lusaka, Zambia - for a three-day visit to honor a long-standing invitation. But there are others who think he could be planning to stay out of the country for a long time.

There are calls for Tshisekedi to reopen investigations into the June 2010 double murder of the leading human rights activist Floribert Chebeya and his driver, Fidèle Bazana, following allegations that the murders were carried out on the orders of the then inspector general of police, Gen. John Numbi.

Annie Chebeya, the widow of Chebeya accuses the former president of being behind her husband’s murder and is demanding justice.

Kabila is suspected to have had a hand in the duo's murder through Numbi, who was very close to the former president. If Numbi is arrested, analysts say, Kabila could have something to worry about.

For the first time after 10 years, two police officers - Hergile Ilunga and Alain Longwa - have admitted to taking part in the murder on June 1, 2010. They have decided to give their versions of the story and have been giving interviews to the media.

The police officers say that they were part of the team organised by high-ranking police officers to kill Chebeya. According to them, the order came from Numbi.