Murder in Kinshasa

On January 16 2001, Kabila was gunned down in his office by one of his bodyguards and former child soldier Rachidi Kasereka.[2][7] Rachidi was immediately killed by Kapend, who was a close military advisor to Kabila.[2] During a trial held in a military court, Kapend and more than 80 others were convicted of organizing the assassination of Kabila and were sentenced to death.[4][2][5] Zajtman has written that the convictions had no evidence to support them, and that those convicted were given no right to appeal.[5] Historian Thomas Turner has described their trial as "shambolic,"[2] and it was condemned by human rights organizations including Amnesty International.[5]

Kabila was killed in the midst of the Second Congo War, a conflict that claimed the lives of 5.4 million people between 1998-2003.[7] Massacres and rapes were common phenomena in the war and overshadowed the convictions for Kabila's killing.[5]

Journalists Zajtman and Rabaud began an investigation into Kabila's assassination after Congo and Rwanda signed a peace agreement in 2009.[5] According to Zajtman "it is an open secret that those condemned are innocent" in the Congo.[5] Zajtman and Rabaud concluded that Kabila's killer, Rachidi, was only one man in a larger plot that included the Rwandan government, a Lebanese diamond merchant whose business had recently been terminated by Kabila, and the tacit approval of the United States.[5]

According to Zajtman, 50 Congolese people convicted of Kabila's killing remained imprisoned, but were innocent of involvement in his death.[5] In January 2021, Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi — released Kapend and 23 others from prison. According to a justice minister, their release did not erase their criminal records and was enacted for humanitarian reasons.[6]

Kabila had come to power, overthrowing the US-backed dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, with the support of the Rwandan government.[2][4] Murder in Kinshasa summarizes allegations that Kabila was in fact murdered by supporters of the rebel faction Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), in a plot organized by Rwanda.[2] According to Zajtman and Rabaud, the motive for Rwanda was the weakening of the DRC's government, and Rwanda's continued exploitation of the DRC's mineral and natural resources.[4][5]

A former justice minister in Congo told RFI in 2012 that Rwandan government involvement in Kabila's murder was "absolutely clear."[1] Mwenze Kongolo, Kabila's minister of justice, has said that those convicted of killing Kabila were scapegoats.[7] Political scientist Filip Reyntjens has written that Rwandan intelligence officers confirmed the government's role in organizing the assassination.[1]

Murder in Kinshasa presents evidence suggesting that the United States consulate in the Congo was at least aware of the plot to kill Kabila.[2][4] In 2012, a former Congolese justice minister said that the American government was involved in Kabila's murder.[1] Historian Thomas Turner writes that both Rwanda and the United States came to view Kabila as an impediment to the future of the DRC.[3]