As M23 rebel group advances in Congo, a new leader signals a shift in its identity


As M23 rebel group advances in Congo, a new leader signals a shift in its identity

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Updated 12:03 PM GMT+5, February 1, 2025 KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — After Rwanda-backed M23 rebels took control of the biggest city in eastern Congo this week, the man who emerged from the shadows to assert his leadership was not the group’s long-time military leader. Sultani Makenga, an ethnic Tutsi rebel leader sanctioned by both the U.S. and the U.N., was nowhere to be seen in Goma’s Serena Hotel as the bearded Corneille Nangaa, in military fatigues, was ushered into the hall. Nangaa, who is not a Tutsi and who analysts say brings a more diverse, Congolese face to the group, told reporters of his plan to fight all the way to Kinshasa, the national capital a thousand miles away. The spectacle was significant because it captures the evolution of M23 from an ethnic Tutsi-dominated outfit more than a decade ago to one that’s now actively seeking to be seen as a Congolese nationalist group. That’s the case despite the military support it gets from neighboring Rwanda, according to observers and analysts in Africa’s Great Lakes region. From election chief to rebel leader Nangaa is the former head of Congo’s electoral body who oversaw the 2018 presidential election won by President Félix Tshisekedi. He has been a controversial figure in Congolese politics for years. As the election commission chair, he oversaw the heavily criticized vote that elected Tshisekedi and led the U.S. to sanction him in 2019 for undermining Congo’s democracy. A falling-out with Congolese authorities, including a dispute over a mining concession, sent Nangaa into exile in Kenya. In 2023, he joined the Congo River Alliance, a political-military coalition including 17 parties and rebel groups opposed to the government of Tshisekedi and became a top political figure. Besides the mining, his grievance is also believed to be due to the president’s alleged refusal to advocate for the U.S. dropping Nangaa from its sanctions list, according to Christian Moleka, a political scientist at the Congolese think tank Dypol. “His perception that he had been mistreated by the authorities is what pushed him towards radicalization,” Moleka said.