Former Congolese president Joseph Kabila, who was in power from 2001 to 2019, is now on the US blacklist. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced economic sanctions against him, accusing him of playing a role in the ongoing instability in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

This decision marks a significant hardening of the US stance towards those suspected of fueling security instability. Joseph Kabila’s assets within US jurisdiction have been frozen.

US authorities accuse Joseph Kabila of links to the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) and the M23, both implicated in recurring armed violence.

“Kabila has provided financial support to the AFC in order to influence the political situation in eastern DRC. Kabila has encouraged Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) troops to defect and join AFC forces in eastern DRC in order to generate additional support for the AFC,” states the Treasury Department’s press release.

They also prohibit any person or entity based in the United States from conducting financial or commercial transactions with him, thereby reinforcing his isolation on the international stage.

Furthermore, Washington says it is “firmly committed to ensuring that all parties honor their commitments under the peace agreements between the DRC and Rwanda” signed under its mediation, as well as the Doha Framework Agreement.

“This decision, which follows the sanctions imposed on 2 March 2026 against the RDF and senior Rwandan officers, constitutes another significant step in the fight against impunity, the respect for sovereignty and the accountability of all actors involved in the ongoing destabilization of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” states the Congolese government, whose courts have sentenced him to death.

On 30 September 2025, the Congolese courts sentenced Joseph Kabila to death in absentia for ‘complicity’ with the M23.

Joseph Kabila and members of his entourage have not yet commented on this US decision.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma