Crisis Chronology | Democratic Republic Of The Congo

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

12/20/2023

Voting begins in general election. Some polling places were unable to open, so voting was extended. Tshisekedi is expected to be reelected, despite a poor economy.

12/01/2023

Presidential election 12/20. Security, especially of the east, is the main issue in the campaign. Tshisekedi’s main opponents are 2018 Nobel Prize winner Dennis Mukwege, businessman and former governor Moise Katumbi, Augustin Matata Ponyo, and former candidate Martin Fayulu.

10/24/2023

Citizens in North Kivu massacred by ISIS-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces.

05/23/2023

DRC files complaint with the International Criminal Court against Rwanda (the Rwanda Defense Force) and the M23 rebels. Rwanda denies any involvement.

03/23/2023

Tshisekedi appoints the country’s former vice president, Jean-Pierre Bemba, who was imprisoned for more than 10 years for war crimes, as defense minister in a sweeping government reshuffle. Some observers believe it is a political move to strengthen the ruling coalition before elections in 12/23.

02/27/2023

M23 rebels seize town in north Kivu after government forces withdraw.

02/01/2023

M23 captures town in North Kivu. The DRC military confirms withdrawal of its troops, to protect civilians.

01/25/2023

Rwanda fires personal anti-aircraft missile at DRC fighter jet, claiming that it violated Rwandan airspace. DRC denies the violation and calls the firing “an act of war.”

12/23/2022

M23 hands over a strategic position near Goma to government forces.

12/07/2022

M23 says it is ready to withdraw from occupied territory in the east and asks for talks with regional leaders.

12/05/2022

Government says that at least 270 people were killed in rebel attack the previous week. The government blames the M23 rebel group, which denies responsibility.

11/27/2022

At least 40 Burundian rebels of the National Liberation Front are killed by the DRC and Burundian armies in eastern DRC.

11/26/2022

Government schedules presidential and parliamentary elections for 12/20/23. In the midst of the attacks by M23, extra security measures will be taken.

11/06/2022

Government calls for mobilization of youths to fight the M23 movement.

11/02/2022

Kenya deploys troops to the DRC to help with the fight against the M23 rebel group.

10/30/2022

M23 rebels capture towns in in North Kivu. The DRC expels the Rwandan ambassador, accusing the country of supporting the rebels.

10/04/2022

Tshisekedi replaces the head of the army. Much of the staff has been replaced recently as part of an effort to subdue the multiple rebel groups operating in the country.

08/30/2022

Allied Democratic Forces kill at least forty and kidnap scores in North Kivu.

08/01/2022

UN peacekeepers open fire at a border crossing, killing two. UN officials denounce the action.

06/27/2022

Protestors in the east protest that UN peacekeepers have failed to protect citizens and demand they leave the area. Three peacekeepers have been killed and another wounded.

06/19/2022

DRC applauds Kenya’s proposal for a regional force to be deployed to fight the M23 group in the eastern DRC but insists that no Rwandan troops be included.

06/17/2022

A Congolese soldier crosses the border with Rwanda and is shot dead. The DRC closes its border with Rwanda.

06/16/2022

Attacks in North Kivu and Ituri by militias, especially the ISIS-linked Allied Democratic Forces, increasing despite military rule in the area since 4/22.

05/31/2022

AU mediator and Angola President João Lourenço meets with DRC President Tshisekedi to discuss rising tensions between DRC and Rwanda due to fighting in the DRC by the M23 rebel movement, which the DRC believes is supported covertly by Rwanda. Rwanda says that the DRC has allowed anti-Rwanda rebels to settle in its northeast. Tshisekedi agrees to release two Rwandan military recently seized. Afterwards, Lourenço meets virtually with Rwanda President Paul Kagame.

05/10/2022

Fourteen people are killed in an attack by CODECO militants (see 4/27/20) in Ituri province.

04/28/2022

First round of peace talks between rebel groups in the DRC’s Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu states and government ends. Thirty armed groups were represented, but not the Allied Democratic Forces, one of the most important groups. The UN has said that 27 million in the region face food shortages and nearly 5.5 million have been displaced.

02/09/2022

The UN International Court of Justice orders Uganda to pay the DRC $325 million for the war that began in the late 1990s.

01/15/2022

Deputy Vice President of the parliament resigns after police aid his home. Jean-Marc Kabund was a strong Tshisekedi ally, and his resignation is seen as continuing the breakdown of the ruling coalition.

11/30/2021

In coordination with DRC military, Uganda launches airstrikes against the Allied Democratic Forces in the DRC in response to bombing in Kampala, Uganda, earlier this month.

11/09/2021

Rebels take two towns in North Kivu.

11/09/2021

Rebels take two towns in North Kivu.

11/03/2021

Though the National Teachers Union has called for the strike to be suspended, teachers in North Kivu remain on strike, saying their demands have not been met.

10/27/2021

Controversial figure is confirmed as chief of elections. Denis Kadima is thought to be a supporter of Tshisekedi. Some groups, including parliament, believe his nomination process to be irregular.

05/27/2021

Authorities order evacuation of parts of Goma in eastern DRC following days of eruptions by the Nyiragongo volcano in Goma.

05/24/2021

Nyiragongo volcano in Goma in eastern DRC erupts.

05/03/2021

Government imposes a “state of siege” on two eastern provinces, North Kivu and Ituri. Local leaders praise the move, but others voice concern over accusations of abuses by the military.

04/12/2021

New pro-Tshisekedi government is appointed.

02/15/2021

Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge of the Future of Congo (ACO – Avenir du Congo) party is named prime minister. Lukonde is trained as an engineer, has worked in former administrations, and has headed the largest mining company in the DRC.

01/28/2021

Prime minister removed

Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba, a Kabila ally, is removed from office after Tshisekedi mounts a no-confidence vote in parliament against him. Tshisekedi has been able to gain support of some parliamentarians formerly allied with Kabila. In 12/20, Tshisekedi created a new coalition, the Sacred Union of the Nation to try to take control from Kabila’s Common Front for Congo. Tshisekedi hopes to nominate a cabinet of his choosing, including a new head of the electoral commission and a new central bank board — important to raise more international aid. However Kabila’s allies remain in control of the security forces.

12/16/2020

Government imposes curfew as a result of surge of COVID-19 cases.

12/07/2020

Tshisikedi calls for a new coalition because the current one “has crumbled” due to disagreements over national security, the judiciary, and the organization of elections. If a new coalition cannot be formed, new elections will be necessary, he says. Kabila’s supporters call the reformulation unconstitutional.

11/13/2020

Violence surges in Goma in the east.

08/13/2020

Fighting escalating in eastern DRC, in Ituri, a gold-mining region where the Hema ethnic group, who are predominantly herders, are fighting Lendu sedentary farmers.

07/11/2020

Justice minister resigns in a dispute with the president over a law that would give politicians more control over criminal cases.

06/24/2020

Second day of protests over changes in the judiciary in Kinshasa, which are broken up by police.

06/10/2020

EU approves €19.5 million in aid for the DRC to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The DRC currently has 4400 cases and 100 deaths.

06/01/2020

Government announces a new ebola epidemic in the east.

05/08/2020

DRC partially reopens border with Zambia that was instituted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

05/05/2020

Government accuses Rwandan Hutu rebel group Allied Democratic Forces (FLDR) of killing of 12 rangers at the end of April in the Virunga National park. They deny it, saying that Rwandan government forces killed them.

04/27/2020

Continuing violence in several provinces in the east kills 43. In the town of Beni in North Kivu, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) have stepped up their killings of civilians since November in retaliation for military operations. The ADF were originally Ugandan Muslim rebels opposed to President Yoweri Museveni’s rule in Uganda. They have been present in the Beni region of eastern Congo since 1995. In Ituri, the Coopérative for the development of Congo (Codeco) killed 21. Codeco claims to be defending the interests of the Lendu community (farmers) against the Hema (herders and traders) and has killed more than 700 civilians since the end of 2017. The Congolese army announced at the end of March that it had killed the head of Codeco, Ngudjolo.

04/22/2020

DRC has 359 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

04/13/2020

DRC issues stay-at-home order. Food prices spike, when available.

02/27/2020

Army captures Mai-Mai militia headquarters, in South Kivu.

02/25/2020

Locusts reach DRC.

01/07/2020

UN reports that measles has killed 6000 in the Congo, with more than 300,000 cases reported since the beginning of 2019.

12/20/2019

Denis Sassou Nguesso elected Congolese Labour Party’s presidential candidate for the 2021 election.

11/26/2019

Protests against UN spread in eastern DRC.

11/25/2019

UN mission Beni in in eastern DRC is attacked by protestors saying that UN troops are failing to protect citizens from attacks by rebels and Congo military.

11/20/2019

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group initially organized in Uganda, attacks civilians in eastern DRC.

08/26/2019

Prime Minister Illunga Illunkamba announces cabinet, eight months after the election. Most of the members have little or no government experience. There are 48 cabinet posts and 17 vice-ministers, of which 48 by agreement go to the Common Front of Kabila parties and 23 go to Tshisekedi’s Heading for Change coalition. Negotiations had stalled over who would control the six "sovereign ministries" listed in the DRC's constitution—Finance, Defense, Budget, Justice, Interior, and Foreign Affairs.

07/27/2019

Tshisekedi and parliament agree to form a government, allowing Illunga Illunkamba to be elected prime minister. Negotiations between Kabila and Tshisekedi had stalled over who would control the six "sovereign ministries" listed in the DRC's constitution—Finance, Defense, Budget, Justice, Interior, and Foreign Affairs.

06/16/2019

Attacks between Lendu and Hema tribes kill more than 160, destroy forty villages, and force 100,000 to flee in eastern Congo.

06/12/2019

Constitutional Court invalidates election of 23 opposition members of parliament, the opposition announces. The court is legally allowed to invalidate elections only within sixty days of an election. All the seats formerly held by members of the Lamulka coalition were given to Kabila’s coalition, Common Front for Congo.

06/12/2019

First case of Ebola reported in Uganda, from a person who recently traveled from DR Congo. Hundreds of thousands have fled the DRC due to disease and fighting.

05/29/2019

Long-delayed local elections begin.

05/20/2019

Tshisekedi nominates Sylvestre Illunga Illunkamba, an experienced technocrat and Kabila ally, to be prime minister after long negotiations with Kabila.

05/20/2019

Ebola outbreak spreading and doctors are losing control in the face of attacks and suspicion of the government, and distrust of the international medical people.

05/05/2019

Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC becoming increasingly dangerous, having already killed a thousand people already dead and not yet controlled within the region. Health workers are being attacked.

04/23/2019

After three months, Tshisekedi has not been able to form a governing coalition and has failed to counteract security threats in North Kivu and Goma provinces among others.

04/19/2019

Court of Cassation overrules 6/16 conviction of Moise Katumbi.

03/13/2019

Tshisekedi frees seven hundred political prisoners.

02/21/2019

Kabila has leaders of his Common Front for Congo (FCC) coalition sign a loyalty pledge.

01/24/2019

Tshisekedi is inaugurated.

01/22/2019

EU and AU, meeting in Brussels, voice acceptance of Tshisekedi’s election.

01/21/2019

Internet service is restored.

01/18/2019

Government rejects African Union demand to delay the final election results.

01/15/2019

Leaked voting data from the election commission shows Fayulu with a 59% majority, a number that generally agrees with the Catholic Church's data.

01/14/2019

International Conference on the Great Lakes Region calls for recount of votes.

01/12/2019

Southern African Development Community says that Congo should recount votes.

01/11/2019

Kabila’s Common Front for Congo (FCC) wins a majority in parliament, which will force Tshisekedi’s group to join a coalition with the FCC or have a minority government.

01/10/2019

Catholic Church says results announced by the election board differ from its own records.

01/10/2019

Fayulu says he will challenge election results in court.

01/09/2019

Tshisekedi declared president amid controversy

Election board “provisionally” declares Etienne Tshisekedi to be the winner of the election with 39% of the vote, with Fayulu second with 35% and Shadary third with 24%. However, there is widespread suspicion that Tshisekedi has made some kind of agreement with the Kabila administration in return for this result. Fayulu was well ahead in pre-election polls and outside and inside observers note widespread fraud in the voting procedures. There are the states that have yet to vote, but their population is effectively disenfranchised, since the new president is to be sworn in this month. Tshisekedi, in “homage” to Kabila, calls him “a partner in democratic change.” Fayulu rejects the outcome and his supporters protest. The internet has been restored. The Catholic Church, having its own polls and having urged release of the results, has not yet expressed an opinion. Tshisekedi is the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress, Fayulu of the Lamuka coalition (the Dynamic of Congolese Political Opposition) and Shaday was officially an independent.

01/06/2019

Election Commission says that reporting of voting will be further delayed past today’s deadline, having received less than half of the voting tallies.

01/01/2019

Western governments issue a statement calling for the restoration of internet access.

12/31/2018

Government cuts internet connection, announcing that fictitious election results have been circulating.

12/30/2018

Voting for president and the National Assembly, except in three states.

12/20/2018

National Election Commission delays election due to possibility of violence, Ebola outbreak in the east, and a fire that destroyed most of the voting machines in Kinshasa. The election is subsequently scheduled for 12/30/18.

12/19/2018

Governor of Kinshasa bans all public rallies, even of presidential candidates, citing possibility of violence.

12/05/2018

The pro-democracy Lucha movement, which has demonstrated against Kabila with the support of the Catholic Church, says that it will file suit against Shadary for corruption.

11/25/2018

Felix Tshisekedi, the son of Etienne Tshisekedi, and Vital Kamerhe announce a new coalition to contest the election.

11/14/2018

Fayulu appeals to Tshisekedi and Kamerhe to remain in the opposition coalition.

11/13/2018

Felix Tshisekedi of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) and Vital Kamerhe of the Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC), pull out of the coalition after their supporters protested the choice of Fayulu as the unity candidate.

11/11/2018

Opposition chooses Martin Fayulu, legislator and leader of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development party, as its joint candidate.

11/07/2018

Opposition parties meet to select a unity candidate.

10/28/2018

Opposition protesting possible fraud in upcoming DRC elections.

09/19/2018

Final list of candidates shows that opposition failed to unite. Twenty-one candidates will run including Kabila’s choice, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, and opposition leaders Felix Tshisekedi and Vital Kamerhe. Other opposition figures, including Jean-Pierre Bemba, were barred from running.

08/25/2018

Election commission bars Bemba from running in a preliminary list of candidates, along with several others, including three former prime ministers. The decision can be appealed.

08/08/2018

Government announces that Kabila will not run for president, and the ruling coalition has nominated former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary to be its presidential candidate.

08/01/2018

Bemba returns.

07/16/2018

Jean-Pierre Bemba is nominated by the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) to be presidential candidate.

06/16/2018

DRC government cancels Moise Katumbi’s passport while he is traveling to Russia for the World Cup. The government says that he is not using the fully biometric passport now required.

06/12/2018

PM Bruno Tshibala says that Kabila will not be a candidate in December election.

06/10/2018

Opposition leader Moise Katumbi addresses supporters via videolink, once again promising to return.

06/08/2018

International Criminal Court overturns Jean-Pierre Bemba’s 6/21/16 conviction for war crimes, saying he could not be held responsible for the action of troops under his control in Central African Republic under his control and that previous trial had not taken into account his attempts to stop the crimes once he became aware of them.

06/08/2018

Main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change campaigning on proposals to revive the economy. Chamisa, 40, is thirty-five years younger than Mnangaga, setting up a contest between older generation and younger. Chamisa is seen as having little chance of winning.

03/15/2018

3/15/18. Over the last two months, villages of the Hema people of eastern DRC were systematically attacked and destroyed in what seems to have been an attempt at genocide by the Lendu people of that area. By this time, the wave of violence had subsided. Some believe that Kabila orchestrated the attacks in hopes of showing that instability justified delaying elections.

01/17/2018

UN observer reports that numerous militias in eastern and southeastern DRC are uniting against Pres Kabila.

11/29/2017

Several DR Congo opposition leaders taken into custody after calling on their supporters to join a “walk of anger,” under a prohibition against public demonstrations.

11/06/2017

Government announces presidential election for 12/18; opposition objects to delay.