The earliest known human settlements in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been dated back to the Middle Stone Age, approximately 90,000 years ago. The first real states, such as the Kongo, the Lunda, the Luba and Kuba, appeared south of the equatorial forest on the savannah from the 14th century onwards.
Politics of the Democratic Republic of Congo take place in the framework of a republic in transition from a civil war to a semi-presidential republic.
The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the state organisation responsible for defending the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FARDC was rebuilt patchily as part of the peace process which followed the end of the Second Congo War in July 2003.
Laurent-Désiré Kabila usually known as Laurent Kabila, was a Congolese rebel and politician who served as the third president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1997 until his assassination in 2001.
Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician who served as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between January 2001 and January 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila in the context of the Second Congo War. He was allowed to remain in power after the 2003 Pretoria Accord ended the war as the president of the country's new transitional government. He was elected as president in 2006 and re-elected in 2011 for a second term. Since stepping down after the 2018 election, Kabila, as a former president, serves as a senator for life.
The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted when Congolese president Laurent-Désiré Kabila turned against his former allies from Rwanda and Uganda, who had helped him seize power. Eventually, the conflict expanded, drawing in nine African nations and approximately 25 armed groups, making it one of the largest wars in African history.
The First Congo War, also known as Africa's First World War, was a civil and international military conflict that lasted from 24 October 1996 to 16 May 1997, primarily taking place in Zaire. The war resulted in the overthrow of Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko, who was replaced by rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila. This conflict, which also involved multiple neighboring countries, set the stage for the Second Congo War (1998–2003) due to tensions between Kabila and his former allies.
James Kabarebe is a Rwandan retired military officer who serves as Minister of State for Regional Integration in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo was tasked with moving from the state riven by the Second Congo War (1998–2003) to a government based upon a constitution agreed on by consensus. In 2001, President Laurent Kabila was assassinated, and his son Joseph Kabila was named head of state.
Antoine Gizenga was a Congolese (DRC) politician who was the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 30 December 2006 to 10 October 2008. He was the Secretary-General of the Unified Lumumbist Party.
Congolese history in the 2000s has primarily revolved around the Second Congo War (1998–2003) and the empowerment of a transitional government.
The National Congress for the Defence of the People was a rebel group established by Laurent Nkunda in the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in December 2006. The CNDP was engaged in the Kivu conflict, an armed conflict against the Congolese military. In January 2009, the CNDP split and Nkunda was arrested by the Rwanda government, and its splinter faction, led by Bosco Ntaganda, was planned to be integrated into the national army.
Laurent Nkunda is a Congolese former military officer and warlord who operated in the North Kivu Province during the Kivu conflict.
The CongoleseRepublican Guard of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as the Special Presidential Security Group, is a praetorian guard unit maintained by and tasked to protect the Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi. Congolese military officials state that the Republican Guard (GR) is an independent branch and not the responsibility of FARDC, but the Head of State. Apart from Article 140 of the Law on the Army and Defence, no legal stipulation on the DRC's Armed Forces makes provision for the GR as a distinct unit within the national army. In February 2005, President Joseph Kabila passed a decree which appointed the GR's commanding officer and 'repealed any previous provisions contrary' to that decree. The GR is more than 10,000 strong, and formerly consisted of three brigades, the 10th, at Kinshasa, the 15th, and the 16th, at Lubumbashi. It has better working conditions and is paid regularly, but still commits numerous crimes near their bases, including against United Nations officials.
John Numbi is a Congolese former security officer and retainer of Joseph Kabila, who rose to the rank of General. Until January 2010, he was the Inspector General of the Congolese National Police. In 2018 he was appointed as the Inspector General of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). He was replaced in that role in 2020, and fled the DR Congo after Joseph Kabila's power dwindled in the first quarter of 2021.
The Congolese Rally for Democracy–Goma was a faction of the Congolese Rally for Democracy, a rebel movement based in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the Second Congo War (1998–2003). After the war, some members of the group continued sporadic fighting in North Kivu as Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC). The movement also entered mainstream politics, participating in democratic elections with little success.
The Land Forces, also called the Congolese Army, are the land warfare component and the largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC).
Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo is a Congolese politician who has been the fifth president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 24 January 2019.
Laurent-Désiré Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was assassinated in his office inside his official residence at the Palais de Marbre, Kinshasa on 16 January 2001. The assassin who killed him was his 18-year-old bodyguard, Rashidi Mizele, who has also been previously identified as Rashidi Kasereka. Mizele was later shot dead. It was believed that some former child soldiers (kadogos) were part of this plan.
The 2004 Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) coup attempt was a foiled coup d'état against the UN-backed Transitional Government, led by renegade members of the presidential guard, including Major Eric Lenge. At 2:40 AM local time on June 11, rebel forces briefly seized control of state broadcast stations and announced the suspension of the country's transitional institutions with Major Lenge assuming control himself. The nation's capital of Kinshasa also experienced a blackout, reportedly caused by the rebels. Lacking support from government officials or external powers, the coup failed miserably.
