The Senate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has voted overwhelmingly in favour of lifting the immunity of ex-President Joseph Kabila.

In a secret ballot on Thursday night, the parliament voted by 88 votes to five to make Kabila liable for prosecution. The former head of state has been accused of treason for alleged links to the M23 armed group, which has taken control of swaths of territory in eastern DRC with the backing of Rwanda.

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Authorities said earlier this month that Kinshasa had amassed clear evidence implicating him in “treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and participation in an insurrectionary movement”.

Kabila, who denies any ties to the rebel group, stepped down after almost 20 years in power in 2018, yielding to protests. However, he enjoyed immunity from prosecution thanks to an honorific title as senator for life.

Earlier this month, the attorney general of the Congolese army demanded that honour be lifted.

“The Senate authorises the prosecution and lifting of Joseph Kabila’s immunity,” Senate speaker Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde said after the vote.

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Complications

Kabila has not commented on his immunity being lifted.

Last year he denied allegations from his successor President Felix Tshisekedi that he was supporting the rebels and “preparing an insurrection” in eastern DRC.

Tshisekedi has in the meantime suspended Kabila’s People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) and security forces have raided several of the former leader’s properties.

PPRD Deputy Secretary-General Ferdinand Kambere told the AFP news agency that Kabila’s prosecution is pure “theatre” to distract the Congolese people from debates on the conflict and corruption in the country.

The former president has been outside the Central African country since late 2023, mostly in South Africa.

However, he has threatened to return to help the country resolve the continuing fighting in eastern areas, as well as making increasingly vocal criticism of Tshisekedi.

A return to the country by Kabila could complicate the bid to end the rebellion. Reports in April that he was in the east have not been confirmed.

Despite DRC’s army and M23 agreeing to work towards a truce earlier this month, fighting continues in the eastern province of South Kivu.

The long-running tensions in eastern DRC flared into conflict in January when M23 captured the city of Goma, followed by the seizure of Bukavu in February.

The group is seeking control of the vast mineral wealth in the eastern areas and has ambitions to take power in Kinshasa.

Amid the ongoing fighting, the army and armed groups announced peace talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, in early May.

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