Corneille Nangaa

• Kivu conflict
  • M23 offensive

Corneille Nangaa
Leader of the Congo River Alliance
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 August 2023

Corneille Nangaa Yubeluo (born 9 July 1970) ^[2] is a Congolese politician and rebel leader. Since 2023, he has been the head of the Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo that includes the March 23 Movement (M23).

He was previously the director of the DRC's Independent National Electoral Commission from 2015 to 2021. In that role, he oversaw elections in the country and certified Felix Tshisekedi as the winner of the contested 2018 general election. He later had a dispute with Tshisekedi over what happened in 2018, and in 2023 announced his opposition to the Tshisekedi government. ^[1] He started a coalition of rebel groups in North Kivu and the eastern DRC known as the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), which includes the M23 movement. ^[3]

Early life and education

Nangaa was born on 9 July 1970 in Bagboya, Orientale Province (now Haut-Uele Province), Democratic Republic of the Congo, along the border with Sudan (now South Sudan). ^{[1] [2]}

He graduated from the University of Kinshasa with a degree in economics and worked as an Africa specialist at several international organizations, including the United Nations Development Programme. ^[1]

Political career

In 2015 he was appointed the president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) by then-president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila. In this role, he oversaw elections in the DRC and declared Felix Tshisekedi as the winner of the contested December 2018 general election. ^[1]

He was sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department for "undermining DRC elections" in March 2019, including for having delayed the general election for two years, since Kabila's constitutional mandated expired in 2016. ^[4]

Nangaa was replaced as the president of CENI in 2021. ^[1] He later claimed, several months before the 2023 election, that while being the head of the Electoral Commission he orchestrated Tshisekedi's victory in 2018 because of a deal made between Tshisekedi and outgoing president Kabila, which Tshisekedi denies. At the same time, in August 2023, he announced the creation of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), or Congo River Alliance, at a meeting of rebel groups at the Kenyan capital Nairobi. It consisted of 17 political parties, two political groups, and several armed militias, the latter including the March 23 Movement. ^[3] M23 is considered the military wing of the AFC. ^[1]

A military court in Kinshasa sentenced Nangaa to death in absentia for treason, insurrection, and war crimes. ^[5] He was again ordered arrested by a military court for failing to prevent acts of torture under his authority during the M23 campaign (2022–present) in February 2025. ^[6]

References

1. Rolley, Sonia; Lewis, David (27 January 2025). "Congo's ex-election chief turned rebel boss builds insurgency" . Retrieved 27 January 2025.
2. "Sanctions List Search". Office of Foreign Assets Control. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
3. "DRC: Corneille Nangaa joins forces with M23 to create political platform". Africanews . 13 August 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
4. "Treasury Sanctions Congolese Officials Responsible for Undermining DRC elections" . Retrieved 27 January 2025.
5. Kamale, Jean-Yves (8 August 2024). "Congolese military court hands down death sentence to leader of rebel coalition and 25 others". Associated Press . Retrieved 27 January 2025.
6. "DRC Military Court Issues Arrest Warrant for Corneille Nangaa". Africanews . 6 February 2025. Retrieved 6 February 2025.