Joseph Kabila: DR Congo’s steely, enigmatic leader

KINSHASA: Propelled to power by the 2001 murder of his father, Congolese President Joseph Kabila has since struggled with the challenge of ruling a vast mineral-rich nation ravaged by incessant conflict.
But the deadly violence this week sparked by an electoral reform bill which would extend his hold on power, has revived claims Kabila is more intent on prolonging his own reign than unifying the nation.
The Democratic Republic of Congo was being riven by “Africa’s Great War”, in which up to five million people would die, when Kabila’s father -- longtime rebel commander and president Laurent Kabila -- was assassinated by a bodyguard in 2001.
His son, then a general, was summoned to take up the reins of state, and on January 26, 2001, aged just 29, was sworn in as Africa’s youngest leader.
Taking charge of a country half the size of western Europe, plagued by the worst war in modern African history and weakened by decades of ineffectual governance, Kabila embraced international moves to end the conflicts that had brought at least six foreign armies onto Congolese soil since 1998.
Alongside deals for the withdrawal of foreign troops, an agreement was signed in December 2002 among rival Congolese parties that launched a transition process towards democracy in the former Belgian colony, once known as Zaire.
But while a large UN mission helped prepare for free elections, the outgoing British ambassador, James Atkinson, alleged in a leaked 2004 diplomatic cable that “Kabila is surrounded by hardliners using him as a front...and serves the interests of those who probably killed his father.”
A series of peace accords retained Kabila in power until he was voted into office in the 2006 general election -- the country’s first free ballot in 41 years.
However, eastern provinces bordering Rwanda and Uganda remain embroiled in conflict, with soldiers and numerous armed movements terrorising villagers and fighting for control of mineral resources. Widespread atrocities including rape and massacres have left hundreds of thousands displaced to this day.
With the help of UN troops given a special mandate to take the offensive against armed movements, the Congolese army defeated the M23 rebels, who were said by the United Nations to have Rwandan and Ugandan backing, an allegation denied in Kigali and Kampala.